Komets Crush Generals 6-2, Take 3-1 Lead in Series

And like a spirit in the night, it was gone again. The Flint Generals fighting spirit, that is. After keeping pace with the Fort Wayne Komets goal for goal through the wild and woolly score-fest that was game 3, the Generals were clearly outgunned and outmatched on Friday night and seemed content to run up the white flag when all was said and done. This with 4065 fans, their largest crowd in over 2 years, looking on. "Power-play" was the word for the night, with either goals or missed opportunities sealing each team's fate. Flint had the first chance, when referee Scott Hoberg called Komets forward Justin Chwedoruk for tripping at 2:02 of the first. That man advantage went nowhere. Then at 5:29, a scrum broke out that resulted in two Flint players -- forward Rick Smith and defenseman Craig Cescon -- and Fort Wayne forward Justin Hodgman picking up roughing minors. This put the Komets on a 5-on-4 power play, which forward Sean O'Connor cashed in on at the 6:54 mark. O'Connor, near the goal line on the left, had tried to send a centering pass to Chwedoruk in front of the net, but the puck never made it, bouncing off some Flint players instead. O'Connor then skated in, grabbed the puck, and knocked it past Generals goalie Rob Nolan for the 1-0 lead. Assists went to forward Leo Thomas and defenseman Brandon Warner. No one can say that Flint didn't have its chances, though. At 9:34 and 11:47, the Komets were whistled for back to back penalties -- Hodgman for cross checking and forward Matt Syroczynski for holding -- and the hapless Generals were still unable to find the net. Meanwhile, Fort Wayne's players were having no problem finding the one guarded by Nolan. At 15:18, Thomas put the Komets up 2-0 on a rush when a shot by O'Connor from the left boards ricocheted off his skate and in, catching Nolan out of position. Also assisting on the play was forward P.C. Drouin. The Generals tried to regroup in the second period, allowing no additional Fort Wayne goals in the frame. Unfortunately the only goal they could muster, which came at 4:59, was quickly waved off due to the net having been knocked off its moorings. More ill-will broke out at 6:21 and both Syroczynski and Flint defenseman Brandon Gentile were sent to the box for roughing. During the later part of the period, the Generals finally began pressuring Fort Wayne, catching their opponents a bit flat-footed at the end of the frame. As a result, Drouin picked up a hooking call at the 20:00 mark. After having an entire intermission to plan, Flint finally solved Komets goalie Tim Haun just 36 seconds into the third. Forward Jamie Schaafsma put a shot on goal from the top of the slot, and Pascal Rheaume was in front of the net to knock the rebound home, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Forward Bryan Smolinski also picked up an assist. Then at 1:07, Generals forward Nathan Ward made a similar play, hitting a shot from the slot that bounced around in a scramble in front of the net before Flint forward Mike Olnyk got it past Haun to knot the game 2-2. Brandon Gentile was credited with the other assist. The Generals were on a roll. Unfortunately for them, their aggressive style of play quickly began netting penalties instead of goals. At the 2:00 mark, forward Chris Kovalcik was sent off for goalie interference, and the Komets made it count at 3:37 after defenseman Guy Dupuis took a slap shot from the high slot just inside the blue line. The puck was stopped, but Syroczynski was there to swat at the rebound as was forward Colin Chaulk, who finally coaxed it home, putting Fort Wayne back on top 3-2. The goal was disheartening for Flint, to be sure, but it was what came next that really broke their backs. At 4:52, Olnyk was whistled for slashing and at 6:12, defenseman Steve Silver joined him the box for boarding, giving Fort Wayne a 5-on-3 power play for 40 seconds. Though the Generals successfully killed the two man advantage officially, before their fourth player had time to take position, the Komets scored again. Drouin sent a shot on goal from the upper left circle and it was tipped in by Syroczynski in front of the crease at 6:55, giving Fort Wayne a 4-2 lead. Though they still had over 13 minutes to make it up, the only fight Flint had left was when Kovalcik was drawn into a bout with Komets forward Brad MacMillan at 11:23. The full-fledged fight -- a rare occurrence in playoff hockey -- started in front of the Fort Wayne bench before migrating to center ice. MacMillan, who was playing without a cage for the first time since having surgery to repair a broken nose, wrestled Kovalcik to the ice before being escorted to the penalty box, his arms raised in triumph for the Fort Wayne fans who had made the road trip. If the Generals' will to win had died, Drouin was the one who drove a stake into its heart to make sure it never came back. He netted a rebound goal at 12:18 to stretch the advantage to 5-2, and the game, for all intents and purposes, was over. Assists were awarded to Chwedoruk and O'Connor. Flint had one final chance to show some life and make a game of it at 16:18 when Drouin was called for tripping. The Generals responded by pulling Nolan, just as they had before successfully tying game 3 on Wednesday, but this time the plan backfired. Even 6-on-4, they couldn't get the puck past Fort Wayne's defense, and just 3 seconds after it had expired, Thomas hit the empty net to cap the scoring at 6-2. Defenseman Danko Mironovic assisted on the play. Afterwards, a defeated Nolan returned to his net, having no further reason to watch from the sidelines. He finished with 25 saves on 31 shots. Haun stopped 33 of 35 shots for the victory. The Komets took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 finals series and can claim the IHL's Turner Cup with their next win. Game 5 in the series will be in Fort Wayne, IN on Saturday night, May 15, 2010.

Notes: The last time the Generals had more than 4065 fans in attendance for a home game was on Friday, January 11, 2008 when 4421 gathered to witness Detroit Red Wings and Calgary Flames forward Darren McCarty make his home debut for the Generals. The Komets were 3 for 5 on the power play; Flint was 1 for 6. Shots on goal were even at 14 aside in the second and 11 aside in the third, though the Generals had a 10-7 edge in the first. Defenseman Keith Rodger was scratched from Fort Wayne's line-up. Forward Dan Lapointe was out due to injury for Flint. General's goalie Sergei Zvyagin was also scratched, reportedly due a lower-body injury. Chad Alban was signed to be Nolan's emergency back-up. Haun had been Fort Wayne goalie Nick Boucher's back-up for 7 straight games prior to this contest. His last appearance between the pipes was in game 3 of the Komets semi-final series vs. Port Huron on Sunday, April 25. Washington Capitals' Coach Bruce Boudreau was on hand to watch his son, forward Ben Boudreau, play for Flint. The elder Boudreau was planning to attend game 5 in Fort Wayne, IN as well.