Komets Hold Off Gems 3-2

The Fort Wayne Komets (30-16-1-2) ended their week on a high note by defeating a team with goal-scoring problems of their own, the Dayton Gems (20-28-3-1), In Dayton, OH on Saturday night. In front of a crowd of 1849 that included a number of Fort Wayne fans, the Komets were primed for a fast start, and just 40 seconds into the opening frame, they had the 1-0 lead. Forward Colin Chaulk took advantage of a Dayton turnover and put the puck in the net thanks to a bounce off the back of Gems goalie Ryan Mior. An assist went to forward Konstantin Shafranov. Fort Wayne had a golden opportunity to extend its lead at the 6:43 mark when referee Brent Coulombe sent Dayton forward Pierce Norton to the box to serve a 4 minute high-sticking penalty for bloodying Komets forward P.C. Drouin, but Fort Wayne failed to convert. Ironically, a penalty on Drouin for slashing at 8:53 negated the final 1:50 of the man advantage. A fight broke out at 14:42 between Komets forward Sean O'Connor and Gems forward Mike Olynyk when O'Connor took exception to a hit from behind on his teammate, forward Leo Thomas. O'Connor lost the fight, but it was just one of two storylines that would be continued in the second period. At 1:35 of middle frame, Drouin got some measure of revenge when he tallied by going 5-hole on Mior, stretching the lead to 2-0. Thomas and O'Connor picked up the assists. Then at 2:58, Olynyk and Fort Wayne forward Mitch Woods dropped the gloves off a face-off, with Olynyk winding up on the losing end of the battle this time. At 14:33, O'Connor was sent to the box for high-sticking, and Dayton finally got on the board during the resulting power play. At 15:22, forward Tim Hartung netted a rebound goal to cut the deficit to 2-1. Forward A.J. MacLean and defenseman Greg Labenski were awarded the helpers. A third fight broke out at 19:07 involving Komets forward Lincoln Kaleigh Schrock and Labenski as both teams hoped for a spark going into the final frame. At 8:18 of the third, it was the Komets who found the net first. Chaulk picked up the puck as it rolled past the goal and backhanded the rebound past Mior for a 3-1 lead. Schrock and Shafranov were credited with the assists. Just 30 second later the Gems took advantage of a Fort Wayne defensive lapse to make it a 1 goal game again. At 8:48, Defenseman Russell Smith burst down the right wing and beat Komets goalie Tim Haun high to make the count 3-2. But Dayton was unable to get the tying goal in the remaining 11:12, and Fort Wayne held on for the victory, snapping a 2 game losing streak in the process. Haun made 33 saves on 35 shots. Mior stopped 25 of 28 in absorbing the loss.

Notes: The Komets were 0-3 on the power play while the Gems went 1-3. Dayton outshot Fort Wayne in each period and 35-28 overall. It was the Gems 2nd loss in a row and 5th out of their last 6 games. The Komets lead the season series with the Gems 5 games to 3. Fort Wayne radio announcer Bob Chase noted some inexplicable discrepancies between the officially recorded time of several goals and the time that was actually showing on Hara Arena's clock when the goals occurred.