O'Connor, Komets Roast Mallards 5-0

Nearly a week ago, the Fort Wayne Komets (28-15-0-2) were struggling to score against the Quad City Mallards (17-22-4-4) in Moline, IL. What a difference a week can make. This time, the Komets took to the road loaded for duck. Defenseman Frankie DeAngelis started the barrage at 14:36 while teammate and fellow defenseman Danko Mironovic was in the box serving a 2 minute minor for interference. Forward Colin Chaulk assisted on the shorthanded goal as Fort Wayne took a 1-0 lead. At 1:19 of the middle frame, Quad City defenseman Terry Harrison was whistled for double-minor high sticking penalty, and shortly before it had expired, the Komets struck again. Forward Sean O'Connor put the puck past Mallards goalie Kyle Jones on the power play at 5:03 to stretch the lead to 2-0. Forwards Mitch Woods and P.C. Drouin assisted on the play. Just a few minutes later at 9:07, Woods was sent off himself for fighting with Quad City forward Patrick Levesque. Woods, who had started the fracas in response to some questionable hits on teammates, was also accessed a 2 minute minor for roughing by referee Brett Klosowski. But the Mallards were unable to convert on the resulting power play and wound up handing Fort Wayne another golden opportunity to score soon after. At 12:37 Quad City forward Marc Rechlicz and defenseman Jason Goulet were both sent to the box for roughing and delay of game, respectively. On the resulting 5-on-3 power play, Komets forward Konstantin Shafranov tallied from the corner of the net to make the score 3-0. Chaulk and defenseman Guy Dupuis were awarded the assists. If the Mallards were hoping the Komets would attempt to sit on their lead in the third, they were soon disappointed. At 6:11 of the final frame, O'Connor broke through for his second goal of the evening, driving the puck through Jones for a count of 4-0. Forward Leo Thomas picked up the assist. Then at 14:08, Thomas netted a goal of his own, to cap the scoring at 5-0 on what no doubt felt like a very long night for Quad City. Assists went to Drouin and O'Connor. Fort Wayne goalie Nick Boucher had his first shutout of the season, stopping a perfect 19 of 19 shots. Jones finished with 39 saves on 44 shots in the loss. The win brought the Komets within 3 points of the second place Port Huron Icehawks, who lost their game versus the Flint Generals by a final score of 3-1. The Komets have 3 games in hand on the slumping Icehawks who have lost 4 in a row.

Notes: Announced attendance was 4649. The Komets were 2 for 4 on the power play while the Mallards went 0 for 7. Fort Wayne outshot Quad City 26 to 3 in the second period and 44 to 19 overall. The win brought the Komets road record to 12-11-1. They are 5-3-1 in their last 9 away games. The Mallards have lost 2 straight games while the Fort Wayne has won 2 straight and 3 of the last 4. The Komets have outscored their opponents 21 to 6 in that stretch. Fort Wayne leads the season series with Quad City 8-2. Komets defenseman Bobby Phillips missed his fourth game in a row due to a groin injury. Also scratched was forward David Hukalo (back).