Komets Top Mallards at Home with 3-2 Overtime Win

The Fort Wayne Komets (13-8-0-1) defeated the struggling Quad City Mallards (6-11-3-1)at the Memorial Coliseum on Friday night. In addition to the victory, Komets fans were celebrating the return of three players who had seen extended absences -- goalie Nick Boucher (coming off a 30 day IR layoff for a broken finger), Konstantin Shafranov (following a concussion he suffered on November 14 and subsequent facial surgery), and Brad MacMillan (suspended since October 31 for leaving the penalty box and pushing a linesman during an altercation on the ice). Shafranov was wearing a cage as a precaution. Meanwhile, the crowd didn't have to wait long to see MacMillan in action again. At 5:46 of the first period, he took on Quad City forward Marc Rechlicz in what eventually became a convincing victory. Fans roared their approval with more enthusiasm than when the Komets opened the scoring at 16:09 of the period. Defenseman Kevin Bertram got his first goal of the season, assisted by forward Colin Chaulk, when he blasted a shot from just inside the blue line while forward David Hukalo screened Mallards goalie Jerad Kaufmann. The Komets stretched that lead to 2-0 early in the second after Quad City forward Mike Zbriger was whistled for slashing Chaulk at 1:04. On the resulting power play just 10 seconds later, forward P.C. Drouin fired a shot past Kaufmann to pad Fort Wayne's lead. Sean O'Connor and Frankie deAngelis were awarded the helpers on the play. At 10:42, Brad MacMillan dropped the gloves a second time for the night, this time taking on the Mallards' Jason Goulet. Though Goulet appeared to have the upper hand in the tilt, the crowd cheered afterwards anyway to show their appreciation for MacMillan's physical contribution to the contest. Quad City was outshot 17 to 11 in the first and 12-9 in the middle frame, but fought back in the third. Outshooting the home team 9-5 for the period, the Mallards netted two goals just 31 seconds apart to erase the Komets lead. The outburst began at 3:22 when Joel Gasper got behind the Komets defense to deflect the puck past Boucher to cut the lead to 2-1. Defensemen A.J. Bozoian and Ryan Palmer picked up assists on the goal. Then at 3:54, forward Terry Harrison got the equalizer on a breakaway after the puck was misplayed by both Fort Wayne defensemen, Kevin Bertram and Bobby Phillips. Mallards forward Patrick Levesque and defensman Shane Lovdahl assisted on the play. But at 19:23, Quad City's attempts to get a go ahead goal was dealt a blow when Chris Lipsett was sent to the penalty box for holding Chaulk. Fort Wayne didn't cash in with the extra man as regulation ended, but the power play carried over into the overtime. With the teams playing 4 on 3, Hukalo retaliated for a cross check from the Mallards Jacques Perreault that knocked him to the ice with a slash of his own. The move gave Hukalo a couple of feet of space that allowed him the room he needed to lift a pass from Chaulk past Kaufmann for the game winner. Referee Jim Hawthorne declined to call either penalty, so the goal stood. Boucher had 27 saves on 29 for the win. Kaufmann finished with 34 saves on 37 shots.

Notes: Announced attendance was 8465. With the victory, the Komets snapped a 2 game winless streak. They had lost 4 of the last 5 entering the game. Fort Wayne's record improved to 9-1 in games in which they lead heading into the third period. Fort Wayne went 0-6 on the power play. Fort Wayne was 2-5.