Komets Fall to Prarie Thunder

The Fort Wayne Komets (14-9-0-1) made a gallant come back attack but failed to top the Bloomington Prairie Thunder (13-8-1-2)in Illinois on Sunday evening. Bloomington got on the board early when Brett Holmberg netted a power play goal at 2:41 of the opening frame. Fort Wayne defenseman Keith Rodger had been whistled for tripping at the 47 second mark to give the Prairie Thunder the extra man. Bloomington forward Zach Pearson and defenseman Jason Lepine picked up the assists. The Prairie Thunder went up 2-0 at 12:19 when defenseman Matthew Spiller got a shot past Fort Wayne goalie Nick Boucher. Right wing Zach Pearson assisted on the play. The Komets finally got on the scoreboard with 8 seconds to go in the period. With Spiller in the box for cross checking, Konstantin Shafranov tallied, cutting Bloomington's lead in half, with the helpers going to forwards P.C. Drouin and Colin Chaulk. Fort Wayne continued to press as the second period began. At 3:23, forward David Hukalo put the puck by Prairie Thunder goalie Andrew Martin to even the score. Assists were awarded to Chaulk and defenseman Frankie DeAngelis. But the tie was short-lived. At 3:50, forward Leo Thomas was sent off for roughing, giving the Prairie Thunder another power play. At 4:26, Bloomington made it count on a shot from forward Jon Booras. Spiller and Lepine helped set up the play. Fort Wayne forward Brad MacMillan, recently returned from a 15 league-issued suspension, got into a fight Bloomington defenseman Justin Sawyer just 15 seconds later, as both players hoped to spark their teams to victory, but it would be the Prairie Thunder who netted 3 consecutive goals to finish out the period. At 5:32, Holmberg made it 4-2. Forwards Craig Macdonald and Travis Banga assisted. Matt McIlvane got in on the action to make it 5-2 at 14:29 with assistance from forwards Booras and Bill Bagron. And with teammate Sawyer in the box serving a double minor high sticking penalty, Lepine potted a short-handed goal that would prove to be the game winner at 18:31. Pearson and Booras picked up the helpers. The Komets rallied in the third, netting 3 consecutive goals of their own. At 1:13, former Bloomington player Thomas started the comeback bid with assists going to forward Justin Chewdoruk and defensemen Kevin Bertram. MacMillan got into a second fight at 7:29, this time with Spiller, but the result wasn't what he had in mind. During the brawl, MacMillan pulled off Spiller's helmet and the equipment was still on his hand when he threw a subsequent punch. He discarded it when he discovered it, but it was too late. Both players were given fighting majors, but MacMillan was also whistled for attempting to injure his opponent. If the Komets were discouraged by the misfortune, it didn't show. Thomas proceeded to cut the Prairie Thunder's lead to 6-4 at 10:35 when he tallied again with assistance from Drouin and defenseman Bobby Phillips. And at 16:50 defenseman Guy Dupuis made it a 1-goal game at 6-5. Assists went to DeAngelis and Hukalo. But despite pulling goalie Nick Boucher, Fort Wayne was unable to even the score in the final 3:10. Bloomington hung on for the victory, which moved them into a tie with the Komets for 3rd place in the IHL standings. Martin made 30 saves on 35 shots for the win. Boucher stopped 32 of 38.

Notes: Announced attendance was 1767 in the last game for both teams before the holidays. Fort Wayne was 1-6 on the power play. Bloomington went 2-7 with the extra man. On the following Tuesday, it was announced by the league that Brad MacMillan would receive a 1-game suspension for his accidental use a helmet during the fight against Matthew Spiller. Spiller was not injured in the brawl and agreed that MacMillan's mistake was an honest one after the incident.