Komets Best Gems 4-2

The Fort Wayne Komets (34-16-1-2) fell behind by 2 goals in the first period for the third time in their last 4 home games, but mounted a successful comeback to down the Dayton Gems (21-32-3-1) on Wednesday night. Dayton's first goal of the night came at 12:34 of the first, when Fort Wayne goalie Tim Haun dropped to all fours at the right corner of the net to cover the puck. Somehow, it got away from him and was picked up by Gems forward Mike Vaskivuo behind the net, who casually skated around before depositing it into the wide open left side for the 1-0 lead. Forward Corey Couturier and defenseman Matt Szypura picked up the assists on the play. At 16:30, that lead was stretched to 2-0 after the Komets failed to clear the puck from their zone. Haun gave up a rebound in front of the net, where it slid directly to the stick of Dayton forward Mike Olynyk for the easy tap-in. Szypura and forward Pierce Norton were awarded the assists. Fort Wayne had plenty of their own chances in the opening frame, but for one reason or another, the puck simply wouldn't go into the net for them. That all changed 20 seconds into the middle frame. Gems forward Justin McCutcheon had been sent to the box for tripping at the 14 second mark, and just 6 second later on the resulting power play, Komets forward P.C. Drouin ripped a shot from the center of the right faceoff circle past Dayton goalie Derek MacIntyre, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Assists went to defenseman Guy Dupuis and forward Colin Chaulk. The goal gave Fort Wayne new life and confidence. Even when another potential tally by forward Justin Chwedoruk was waved off by referee Ian Croft due to goaltender interference, the Komets didn't lose faith. At 8:31 defenseman Frankie DeAngelis grabbed the puck out of the air on a breakaway, dropped it to the ice just before crossing the center line, then beat a Gems defenseman to send a slap shot left-side top shelf past MacIntyre, knotting the score at 2-2. Forward Konstantin Shafranov was credited with an assist. In the third period, both teams hunkered down defensively, hoping for the go-ahead goal. But just when it seemed that overtime might be imminent, Fort Wayne defenseman Bobby Phillips came on the ice to pick up a loose puck and spotted Shafranov cutting to the Dayton zone. Phillips sent a pinpoint pass to Shafranov from the neutral zone, hitting him in stride behind the Gems defense, and Shafranov put a wrist shot past MacIntyre for a 3-2 lead with a mere 1:10 remaining in regulation. With roughly half a minute left, the Gems responded by pulling MacIntyre for the extra attacker, but the plan backfired when Fort Wayne forward Lincoln Kaleigh Schrock knocked the puck into the empty net on a breakaway with 17.7 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach at 4-2. An assist went to forward Matt Syroczynski. The victory extended the Komets winning streak to 5 games. They remain 1 point behind the second place Port Huron Icehawks in the IHL standings. Haun stopped 27 of 29 shots for the win. MacIntyre made 30 saves on 33 shots in absorbing the loss.

Notes: Announced attendance was 5748 in the Komets fifth Wednesday night game in as many weeks. Fort Wayne went 1-2 on the power play. Dayton went 0-2. The Komets outshot the Gems 34-29 overall. Dupuis' assist extended his total to 494 after becoming the all-time assist leader amongst Komets defensemen the previous Saturday with 493. Fort Wayne forward Leo Thomas did not dress for the game after sitting out the third period of last Saturday's contest due to a knee on knee hit. Dayton has lost 2 games in a row, 6 of the last 7, and 9 of the last 11. The Komets lead the season series with the Gems 7-3 with 5 games remaining.