Komets Top Mallards on Road 3-1

The Fort Wayne Komets (14-8-0-1) completed a two game home and home sweep of the Quad City Mallards (6-12-3-1) on Saturday night when they downed their rivals 3-1 in front of 3803 fans in Moline, IL. Fort Wayne is 5-0-1 versus Quad City this season. The Komets improved to 6-6 on the road, ending a 3 game road losing streak. The Mallards got on the board first after Komets defenseman Danko Mironovic was sent to the box for roughing at 4:28 of the opening frame. At 6:09, Juris Stals netted the power play goal, with assists going to Shane Lovedahl and A.J. Bozoian, to take the lead 1-0. Fort Wayne was finally able to tie the game at 12:49 of the second. Forward Colin Chaulk put the puck past Mallards goalie Jerad Kaufmann while forward Justin Chwedoruk and defenseman Guy Dupuis picked up the assists. A slew of penalties at 17:06 of the middle frame resulted in a Fort Wayne power play that the Komets were able to cash in on to take the lead. Fort Wayne defenseman Keith Rodger and Mallards defenseman Jacques Perreault tangled, with each picking up fighting majors. Meanwhile, Komets forward Sean O'Connor and Quad City forward Joel Gasper were each slapped with double minors for roughing. But the Mallards were saddled with an extra penalty -- Marc Rechlicz for interference -- giving the Komets the extra man. At 18:54 forward Leo Thomas made them pay for it when he gave Fort Wayne a 2-1 lead. Defensemen Brandon Warner and Frankie DeAngelis were awarded the helpers on the tally. The Mallards did have four power plays of the their own in the second period, but could muster only 3 shots in the frame to Fort Wayne's 10. Quad City had hopes of tying the game in the third after Warner was whistled for slashing at 16:16. Lovedahl found the net on the power play, but referee Craig Welker disallowed the goal due to a hand pass. Still trailing by a point as the final seconds ticked down, Quad City pulled Kaufmann, but it was the Komets who wound up icing the victory when Chaulk put the puck into the open net, his second tally of the night, with an assist going to forward Brad MacMillan. Fort Wayne goalie Nick Boucher made 21 saves on 22 shots for the win. Kaufmann stopped 30 of the 32 he faced.

Notes: The Komets improved to 11-2 when they score 3 or more goals in a game. They went 1-4 on the power play. Quad City was 1-9 with the man advantage. Fort Wayne radio announcer Bob Chase was feeling under the weather and did not make the road trip. It was announced that he would miss the Komets game in Bloomington, IL on Sunday as well.