Komets Bested by Prairie Thunder 4-3 in OT

The Fort Wayne Komets (29-15-1-2) gave their fans more reason to wonder which version of the team will show up on any given night when they put forth a mostly lackluster effort, falling behind early and ultimately losing to the Bloomington Prairie Thunder (22-20-2-5) in overtime on Wednesday night in Fort Wayne, IN. Bloomington got on the board at 11:52 of the first period, when forward Jon Booras took advantage of a turnover near center ice by Komets defenseman Keith Rodger, netting an unassisted goal for the 1-0 lead. Exactly 3 minutes later at 14:52, Prairie Thunder defenseman Nick Elligsen took advantage of another Fort Wayne turnover, this time by forward Sean O'Connor along the boards. Elligsen's shot from the left circle made it past Komets goalie Nick Boucher's outstretched glove and into the far side of the net to make it 2-0. The Komets, who looked sluggish from the moment they stepped on the ice, had few quality chances to even things up, but they generally weren't doing the things necessary to create such chances, like going hard to the net and hustling for loose pucks. The middle frame brought more of the same from Fort Wayne, much to the chagrin of the crowd of 5584 whose only consolation was that Bloomington was also unable to extend their lead any further in the period. Things finally heated up in the third thanks to a couple of Prairie Thunder penalties, and the suddenly energized Komets broke through with 3 consecutive goals. The barrage started after Prairie Thunder forward Matt McIlvane was sent to the box at 3:23 for tripping. On the power play, P.C. Drouin tallied with a shot from 40 feet out, cutting the Prairie Thunder's lead to 2-1 at 4:38. Assists went to forwards Konstantin Shafranov and Colin Chaulk. Komets forward Leo Thomas then tied the game 2-2 with his wrist shot from the slot at 6:17. Forward Sean O'Connor and defenseman Frankie DeAngelis were awarded the assists. At 8:34, Bloomington defenseman Justin Sawyer was sent off for tripping, giving Fort Wayne another man advantage, and at 8:57, Shafranov made it count when he found the twine after a pass from Chaulk through the slot to give the Komets their first lead of the game, 3-2. But the Prairie Thunder remained undaunted, and at 12:27, they knotted things up again at 3-3 when forward Zac Pearson weaved through the Fort Wayne defense to lift a backhander past Boucher. Defensemen Cole Ruwe and Matthew Spiller picked up the assists. Both teams continued to press as regulation drew to a close, sending the game in to overtime. Though the Komets seemed to be getting the better chances in the extra frame, it was the Prairie Thunder that broke through to claim the 2 standings points. Pearson netted his second goal of the night after a set up by Booras from the left dasher boards. Sawyer was credited with the other assist. Fort Wayne received 1 standings point for their efforts, bringing them within 2 points of the second place Port Huron Ice Hawks, whom they are scheduled to play on Friday. Boucher stopped 28 of 32 shots in the loss. Bloomington goalie Sebastian Dahm made 42 saves on 45 shots for the victory.

Notes: The Komets, who not long ago were struggling with the man advantage, went 2 for 4. The Prairie Thunder were 0 for 4. The Komets outshot Bloomington 11-6 in the second period, 19-7 in the third, and 45-32 overall. There were no fights, but 3 of Fort Wayne's 4 penalties were roughing calls -- Drouin at 16:30 of the first, forward Mitch Woods at 2:38 of the second, and forward Brad MacMillan at 14:14 of the second. Komets defenseman Guy Dupuis had the best +/- ranking of the game for his team at +1. Meanwhile, fellow defenseman Danko Mironovic had a rough night with a -3. Fort Wayne had a 3 game winning streak snapped, but still leads the season series with the Prairie Thunder 7 games to 3.