Komets Bury Gems 5-0

Less than 24 hours after losing a hard-fought, back-and-forth contest against the Muskegon Lumberjacks on Saturday night, the Fort Wayne Komets (41-19-1-2) went on the road to take out their frustrations on the cellar-dwelling Dayton Gems (23-38-3-1) early Sunday evening. Dayton had the obvious edge in energy level, having not played since Friday and prior to that, the previous Sunday, but could not take advantage of the Komets weariness with Fort Wayne goalie Nick Boucher having an infallible night in front of the Komets net. The first period alone featured numerous impressive saves by Boucher plus a few close calls, but no goals for either side. Early in the middle frame, Boucher made perhaps his most stunning stop of the game lying flat on his back. Gems forward Mike Vaskivuo had a clear shot at the open net, but the goalie miraculously managed to raise a glove and prevent the tally. For Dayton, it was going to be that kind of night. No doubt inspired to see such heroics, the Komets took a 1-0 lead less than a minute later at 2:31 when forward Konstantin Shafranov picked up a rebound goal. Assists went to forwards Matt Syroczynski and Colin Chaulk. The remainder of the second period featured more stellar highlights from Boucher and no additional scoring. That was all about to change. To set the stage, Dayton defenseman Matt Szypura was sent off by referee Andy Thackaberry for hooking with just 22 seconds remaining in the second. That left 1:38 of power play time for the Komets to begin the third, and they hit the ice determined to cash in on it. At 1:14, they did just that when a shot by Syroczynski made it past Gems goalie Derek MacIntyre to stretch the lead to 2-0. Chaulk and Shafranov assisted. At 6:55, Dayton forward Tim Hartung was issued an interference penalty, giving Fort Wayne the man advantage yet again. Just 12 seconds later at 7:07, forward Justin Chwedoruk made the Gems pay a second time, finding the net to extend the Komets lead to 3-0. Defensemen Brandon Warner and Frankie DeAngelis were credited with the assists. If there was any suspense left in the contest, it was squelched at the 13:51 mark when Chaulk was left unguarded and fired the puck in behind MacIntyre for a 4-0 count. Shafranov and Syroczynski picked up the helpers. But Dayton was handed some prime opportunities to at least make a show of it the rest of the way. At 16:29, Syroczynski was whistled for slashing. At 17:54, there was a brief scrum which resulted in Komets defenseman Danko Mironovic picking up a cross-checking penalty while Fort Wayne forward Sean O'Connor and Gems defenseman Russell Smith picked up roughing calls. Smith was reportedly seen spitting on Mironovic in the wake of the incident. The additional penalty gave Dayton a 5-on-3 for 35 seconds, but they weren't able to capitalize. Then at 18:37, just 8 seconds after the Komets had gotten a player back, Fort Wayne defenseman Guy Dupuis was whistled for high sticking, ensuring the Gems a significant edge for the remainder of the contest. But even that wasn't good enough. MacIntyre was pulled to give the Gems an almost clownish 6-on-3 advantage for all but the final 6 seconds of the game. Yet despite it all, they simply could not solve Boucher. Then to underscore the Gems ill fortune, Chaulk backhanded the puck clear of the Komets zone and into the empty net at 19:58 to cap the scoring at 5-0. For Fort Wayne, it was a much needed victory after a hard to swallow loss. For Dayton, it was just one more night of misery in a series of many. Boucher made 44 saves on 44 shots for the shut-out and the victory. MacIntyre stopped 31 of the 35 shots he faced.

Notes: Announced attendance was 1350. The Komets were 2-3 on the power play. The Gems were 0-6. Dayton outshot Fort Wayne 16-12 in both the first and third periods and 44-36 overall. The Gems have lost 2 in a row, 5 of the last 6, and 8 of the last 10. They hadn't been shut-out since January 10, 2010 when they were shut-out 3-0 also by the Komets at Hara Arena. Fort Wayne has won 6 of the last 7 and 12 of the last 15. Scratches for the Komets included forward Brad MacMillan, who missed a fourth game with a separated shoulder. He is expected to return in a week or two. Also absent was forward Leo Thomas, who reportedly suffered "a bit of a concussion" in the game the previous night versus Muskegon. He is expected to return to the line-up for Friday's match-up in Muskegon, MI.