Ice Hawks Fly Past Komets 4-2

The Fort Wayne Komets and Port Huron Ice Hawks entered into their Wednesday night game with identical 12-6-1 records and tied for second place in the IHL standings. Only one could retain that position at evening's end, and it was the Ice Hawks who staked their claim. Prior to the start of the game, the Fort Wayne crowd was delighted to learn that one of their favorite nemeses, goalie Larry Sterling, would be in net for the tilt, and some fans got in a few preliminary taunts, chanting his name derisively as he took the ice. Initially, it did seem like it would be a long night for the Ice Hawks as the Komets jumped out to a 2 goal lead within 13 minutes. First Fort Wayne forward Colin Chaulk shot the puck into the top of the net after picking up a drop pass from teammate Matt Syroczynski in front of the net at 8:33. Syroczynski had recently been released from his tryout with the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL and was playing in his first game for the Komets since October 24. At 12:55, Brzezinski got a goal of his when he crashed the net and swept in a rebound off a Justin Sheetrock stuff attempt. Defenseman Kevin Bertram also picked up an assist on the play. Soon after, though, the Komets luck began to change. At 15:10 referee Curtis Marielle whistled the Komets David Hukalo for elbowing, negating a Fort Wayne power play that had resulted from Port Huron's Mickael Bedard picking up a roughing penalty at 13:45. At 15:32 Matt Woodard joined Hukalo in the box for slashing, giving the Ice Hawks a 4-on-3 power play. With all the open ice, it took Port Huron only 10 seconds to capitalize. Forward Tab Lardner ricocheted a shot off the pad of Komets goalie Tim Haun from behind the goal line, cutting the deficit to 2-1 at 15:42. The second period also belonged to Port Huron as they scored 2 more unanswered goals. Mickael Bedard got the equalizer at 9:34 when he stole a pass from Komets defenseman Guy Dupuis along the left boards. On a 2-on-1 rush, Bedard put a wrist shot over Haun's glove just under the crossbar. At 15:27, the Ice Hawks took the lead when Haun got caught out of position trying to intercept a dump in behind his net. Ice Hawks forward Kerry Bowman beat him to the puck and passed it out front to teammate Brandon Naurato for the easy score. Defense man Adam Maccarone was awarded a helper on the tally. Port Huron sealed the victory just 1:39 into the final frame when Naurato notched his second goal of the night after getting around Dupuis and backhanding the puck over Haun's glovehand to cap the scoring at 4-2. Forward Derek Patrosso had an assist on the play. Unlike other recent games, the Komets kept the heat on the Ice Hawks all night long, out-shooting their opponent 15-14, 12-6, and 15-3 respectively in each of the three periods, but could not get the puck past Sterling again to challenge Port Huron's lead before the final buzzer had sounded. Sterling finished with 40 saves on 42 shots. Haun made 19 saves on 23 shots in the loss.

Notes: Announced attendance was 5453, an unusually small crowd which was probably at least partially due to the adverse winter weather outside the arena. Guy Dupuis was playing in his 900th game with the Komets, regular season and playoffs combined. Fort Wayne went 0-7 with the man advantage; Port Huron was 1-5. Matt Syroczynski had 4 goals and 6 points during his 18 game stint with the Norfolk Admirals. He was called up by the Admirals a second time the following afternoon. Port Huron played without leading scorer (RW) Mike Kinnie and (C) Kris Vernarsky, who is out until mid January following hand surgery. The Komets did not wear their new black, red, and white retro jerseys as originally planned due to concern that the styling was too similar to Port Huron's road sweaters, though Port Huron was in white for the contest. Fort Wayne instead wore their usual road jerseys for the game.