Komets Maul Mallards 4-1

The Fort Wayne Komets (31-16-1-2) may have given up the first goal to the Quad City Mallards (18-24-4-6) on Wednesday night in Moline, IL, but they never looked back from there in what turned into a mostly defensive contest. Quad City forward Chris Lipsett put his team up 1-0 at the 4:32 mark of the first period when he took a pass off the left wall and found himself unguarded in front of the net. Forward Juris Stals got the assist. Fort Wayne tied the score at 1 when forward Leo Thomas grabbed a loose puck and took a shot through traffic from the right face-off circle. Assists went to forwards P.C. Drouin and Sean O'Connor. At 15:31, referee Curtis Marouelli called a questionable goalie interference penalty on Drouin -- Mallards goalie Jerad Kaufmann appeared to have actually done the interfering -- putting Quad City on the power play. But it was Fort Wayne that got the shorthanded go-ahead goal when O'Connor stick-handled the puck around Mallards defenseman Jason Goulet on a breakaway and found the net unassisted for a 2-1 lead. It was Marouelli and the Komets special teams that provided drama in the middle frame, as Fort Wayne was forced to battle through not one, but two 5-on-3s. First, forward Konstantin Shafranov was whistled for slashing at 9:39. Then defenseman Danko Mironovic joined him the box, also for slashing, at 10:29. Not long after the Komets had successfully killed off those penalties, Fort Wayne was slapped with another penalty. At 14:55, forward Brad MacMillan was sent off for holding. In response, Komets coach Al Sims had some choice words for Marouelli, resulting in a bench minor for unsportsman-like conduct which was served by defenseman Matt Woodard, giving Quad City a full 2 minutes of 5-on-3 time. But as before, Fort Wayne somehow managed to emerge unscathed. To end the second period, Marouelli called one more penalty -- a slashing call on MacMillan -- at the 20 minute mark, ensuring that the Komets would begin the final frame a man down as well. But once again, the Quad City power play went nowhere, thanks to a strong Fort Wayne defense and the play of Komets goalie Nick Boucher. Then it was the Komets turn. Mallards forward Justin White was whistled for interference at 4:54, and Fort Wayne forward Matt Syroczynski made it count when he redirected defenseman Guy Dupuis' slap shot from the blue line for a 3-1 lead. Drouin was credited with the other assist. At 8:34, Syroczynski struck again, this time hitting the twine with assistance from Shafranov and forward Colin Chaulk to put the Komets up 4-1. But Marouelli wasn't finished calling penalties, and at 10:34, he gave the Mallards one last chance to make a show of it when he called 4 minutes of infractions on Fort Wayne defenseman Kevin Bertram -- 2 minutes for high sticking and 2 minutes for unsportsman-like conduct. But by this time, the Komets knew the drill all too well. The score remained unchanged, and ironically, it was Quad City that had its chances for a miraculous comeback significantly reduced when forward Patrick Levesque was whistled for roughing at 17:07. Overall, the Mallards finished the night with 3 times fewer penalties and penalty minutes than the Komets. Kaufmann stopped 32 of 36 shots in absorbing the loss. Boucher made 26 saves on 27 shots for the victory.

Notes: Announced attendance was 3304. Fort Wayne went 1 for 3 on the power play. Quad City went 0 for 9. The Komets outshot the Mallards in each period except the second (13-13) and 36-27 overall. It was Fort Wayne's second win in a row after losing 2. Quad City has lost 2 in a row and 5 of the last 6. With the victory, the Komets closed to within 4 points of the Port Huron Icehawks and second place in the IHL standings. Fort Wayne leads the season series with Quad City 9-2 with 4 games remaining.