Komets Shot Down By Mallards 4-3

In their previous meeting less than a week before, The Fort Wayne Komets (48-21-1-4) knocked the Quad City Mallards (29-35-4-7) out of playoff contention, so perhaps it was only fitting that it was the Mallards who were there to witness the Komets faint hopes of finishing first in the IHL standings die. Playing in the i wireless Center in Moline, IL for their last home game of the 2009-10 season, Quad City had little to motivate them beyond the 5635 enthusiastic fans on hand for "Fan Appreciation Night" and, of course, revenge. But it was the Komets newly signed forward Justin Hodgman's turn to shine first. Hodgman, who joined the Komets just in time for the playoffs in both 2008 and 2009, returned to the team on Monday, April 12 to much celebration and fanfare. In his first game of 2010 with Fort Wayne, he got to his own rebound, wristing the puck past Mallards goalie Jared Kaufmann at 4:30 of the first period for a 1-0 lead. The tally was assisted by forward Matt Syroczynski and came on the power play after referee Craig Welker had sent Quad City defenseman Shane Lovdahl to the box for holding at 2:50. Just 10 seconds after Lovdahl's penalty, Welker had slapped Mallards forward Chris Lipsett with a 10 minute misconduct for abuse of an official when Lipsett argued the call. Fort Wayne extended its lead to 2-0 after Quad City took another penalty at 8:40. Defenseman Jason Goulet was whistled for interference to give the Komets the man advantage, and at the 9:55 mark, forward Justin Chwedoruk picked off a pass from forward Leo Thomas and fired the puck past Kaufmann from the right circle. Forward P.C. Drouin was also credited with an assist. The Mallards finally struck back at 12:18, cutting the lead to 2-1 after Fort Wayne was called for a penalty of its own -- a bench minor for too many men on the ice at 10:36. The Komets were unable to clear the puck from their zone, allowing Quad City forward Juris Stals to find the twine with assists going to forward Justin White and defenseman Tyler Kindle. But Fort Wayne countered with a statement goal at 12:35 to silence the crowd. After a dazzling display of perfect passing, forward Colin Chaulk skated in from the east just as Kaufmann was moving to the west to make the count 3-1. Hodgman and Syroczynski picked up the assists. As strong as Fort Wayne looked in the opening frame and as crisp as their passing was, their scoring for the evening was done. At 6:33 of the second period, Mallards forward Joel Gasper netted a shot from a bad angle to cut the deficit to 3-2. Forward Obi Aduba and Kindle were awarded the assists on the play. Beginning at the 7:54 mark, Fort Wayne players began a parade to the penalty box. First Welker called defenseman Frankie DeAngelis for hooking at 7:54 in addition to hitting the Komets with another too many men infraction, giving the Mallards a 5-on-3 for a full 2 minutes. When Quad City failed to cash that in, Welker sent Chwedoruk off for hooking at 11:53. Once again, nothing became of it. At 18:24, Chaulk was called for high sticking, but the Mallards could not capitalize before one of their own was sent off for interference just as the period expired. They did, however, pepper Fort Wayne goalie Nick Boucher with shots, outshooting the Komets 16-6 for the frame. The momentum of the game had definitely shifted. At 4:20 of the third, Quad City got the equalizer, knotting the game 3-3 when Stals got his second goal of the evening, picking up a drop pass in front of the Fort Wayne net and knocking it home. Assists went to Kindle and forward Addison DeBoer. At 5:04, Welker made another show of not taking any flack for his calls when he whistled Lovedahl for hooking before adding a 10 minute misconduct for abuse of an official. When Lovdahl continued to protest, Welker tossed him from the game with a 10 minute game misconduct. At 12:05, with both teams hoping for a spark, Komets forward Brad MacMillan -- playing in his first game after missing a month with a shoulder injury -- got into a fight with Mallards forward Marc Rechlicz. But beyond the fisticuffs, Fort Wayne was not making an effort to command the game physically, allowing Quad City the chance to keep pressing, and more importantly, keep hoping. The clock ran down on regulation without a resolution, setting the stage for overtime, and the fans just cheered all the louder. Chants of "Let's go Mallards" rang from the rafters, though as it turned out, Quad City was unable to register a single shot on goal in the extra frame. The Komets came close to ending things when Drouin fed a pass to Chaulk on a breakaway, but Chaulk somehow managed to miss the net completely on the play. And so the game proceeded into a shootout. First up for Fort Wayne, Hodgman's made a big sweep at the puck, but his shot missed. For the Mallards, Brandon Marino tallied by shooting the puck up high just under the crossbar. For the Komets, Drouin was unable to get the puck where he wanted it and wound up shooting it right into Kaufmann. For Quad City, Oduba's shot was stopped by Boucher. For Fort Wayne, defenseman Guy Dupuis fired the puck from 10 feet out and scored to even things up. For the Mallards, Stals shot was knocked aside by Boucher, sending the shootout into extra rounds. For the Komets, Chaulk's shot was stopped when it went low instead of high. For the Mallards, Lipsett's shot hit the post. For Fort Wayne, forward David Hukalo initially lost the puck, then regained control only to have it poke checked away by Kaufmann. Quad City finally sealed the victory by sending out forward Patrick Levesque who skated towards the left boards before attacking the net, tucking the puck between his legs, then bringing it back out and sneaking a shot between Boucher and the right post. Boucher finished with 27 saves on 30 shots and facing down 3 of 5 attempts in the shootout. Kaufmann claimed the win by stopping 30 of 33 shots and standing tall for 4 of 5 shootout attempts. The teams were scheduled to meet only once more the following day, Saturday, April 17 in Fort Wayne, IN.

Notes: The Komets were 2 for 4 on the power play; the Mallards were 1 for 8. Fort Wayne outshot Quad City 11-9 in the first, 13-5 in the third, and 3-0 in overtime. Komets defenseman Danko Mironovic was reportedly sporting an orange mohawk in preparation for the playoffs. Returning to the Fort Wayne line-up were defenseman Bobby Phillips, goalie Tim Haun (who acted as Boucher's back-up), and MacMillan. Komets forward Mitch Woods missed the game due to a 1-game suspension for a spearing incident that took place in the third period of Fort Wayne's game vs. the Dayton Gems the previous Saturday. The loss snapped the Komets 5-game winning streak, and their run of regular season championships ended at 3. The Mallards have won 4 of their last 5 games. Fort Wayne won the season series with Quad City, leading 11-3 with 1 game remaining.