Komets Crush Icehawks 7-2, Stave Off Elimination

Is history repeating itself? Two years ago, the Fort Wayne Komets found themselves down 3-1 to the Port Huron Icehawks in their Turner Cup Finals series. That team bounced back by winning the next 3 games in a row, capping a record-setting season with the ultimate accolade, the Turner Cup. This year, the Komets again found themselves down 3-1 to the Icehawks, though this time it was in the semifinals round. Like in 2008, the Komets rallied with a commanding victory on Friday night to send the series back to Port Huron. But it didn't look like it would turn out that way early on. In fact, it looked like it would be more of the same. Fort Wayne was getting its chances but having trouble capitalizing on them. Then referee Jim Hawthorne called Komets forward Mitch Woods for roughing and defenseman Guy Dupuis for interference at 15:45 and 17:12 respectively, giving Port Huron not only their first power play of the night, but also a 5-on-3 for 33 seconds. The Komets successfully killed both penalties -- the first positive sign of the night for them -- but less than a minute later, with just 3.2 seconds remaining to play in the first period, Icehawks forward Derek Patrosso fired a hard angle shot from the boards near the goal line as Dupuis was skating past Fort Wayne goalie Nick Boucher, inadvertently screening him. The puck knuckled over Boucher's glove, beating the goalie short side for a 1-0 lead as the teams headed to the dressing room. An assist went to forward Nick Lindberg. Port Huron did it again just 15 seconds into the middle frame. This time, the Icehawks intercepted a pass from Komets defenseman Bobby Phillips, and forward Mickael Bedard one-timed it past Boucher to give Port Huron a 2-0 lead. Patrosso was credited with an assist. It was looking like it would be a very long night for the Komets, indeed. But after killing off a couple more power plays, Fort Wayne began their rally. Forward P.C. Drouin dug the puck out from the corner and it was picked up by forward Leo Thomas, who then passed it from behind the net to forward David Hukalo in the slot. Hukalo flipped the puck up high, putting it past Icehawks goalie Raffaele D'Orso to make the count 2-1. About a minute later, Port Huron had a prime chance to counter and diffuse the Komets momentum when a Dupuis turnover led to Patrosso skating in on a breakaway, but Boucher made the save to keep things close. It was a game changing play that would pave the way for all that was to come. At 18:52, with the teams skating 4 aside after a roughing call on Port Huron forward Kerry Bowman and a holding call on Komets forward Sean O'Connor, both at 17:09, Fort Wayne knotted the game 2-2. In a display of exceptional effort, forward Lincoln Kaleigh Schrock kicked the puck out behind the net and spotted forward Matt Syroczynski coming off the bench. Schrock threaded a pass to Syroczynski from the left corner, putting it right on his stick, and Syroczynski sent a one-timer into the twine. As the 20:00 mark of the second period, Hawthorne called a hooking penalty on Icehawks forward Peter Flache, and 50 seconds into the third period, Fort Wayne cashed it in. Port Huron defenseman Daniel Tetrault committed a turnover in his own end, allowing Dupuis to send a shot on net. Coming off the boards, forward Colin Chaulk deflected it in for a power play goal and the Komets first lead of the game at 3-2. The Icehawks continued to press, but this just led to more mistakes. At 6:34, forward Justin Chwedoruk stole the puck from a Port Huron defenseman and backhanded a chip shot over D'Orso on a breakaway to stretch the lead to 4-2. The Komets killed off a questionable boarding call on Thomas at 10:02 before Tetrault was sent off for holding at 12:49. Once again, Fort Wayne made their rivals pay. At 13:39, Syroczynski redirected the puck straight up over D'Orso's shoulder for a 5-2 lead. Hukalo and Drouin got the assists. Right about then, the Icehawks sensed that it just wasn't going to be their night. As their thoughts turned to the bus ride home and the suddenly necessary game 6, they gave up 2 more goals. At 16:28, Woods skated up the middle towards D'Orso on a breakaway before passing the puck to Chwedoruk for a slap shot from the right circle, extending the lead to 6-2. Just over a minute later, O'Connor capped the scoring at 7-2 with a rebound goal at 17:36. Assists went to Drouin and Thomas. The Komets and Icehawks next meet on Saturday night in Port Huron, MI, where the Icehawks, at least, are hoping to prevent another bout of déjà vu. Boucher made 32 saves on 34 shots for the victory. D'Orso stopped 32 of 39.

Notes: Announced attendance was 7091. In a notable switch, the Komets were 2 for 5 on the power play; the Icehawks were 0 for 5. Port Huron outshot Fort Wayne 16-10 in the first period but Fort Wayne outshot the Icehawks 17-6 in the third and 39-34 overall. For Fort Wayne, forward Brad MacMillan did not play after having surgery on his nose last Tuesday. Also out was Justin Hodgman, who was serving the second game of a 2 game suspension -- the result of a postgame slash on Port Huron forward Nick Lindberg in game 3 on Sunday night. The Icehawks were missing goalie Larry Sterling, who appeared to suffer a concussion during the second period of game 4 on Wednesday night. Pat Street of Fredonia State College was brought in to be D'Orso's emergency back-up. Also scratched was defenseman Brian Deeth.