Fort Wayne Komets Keep Kalamazoo at Bay; Win 2-1
By Kris Hill
Thomas Beauregard Makes Statement in Return, Lead Fort Wayne Komets over Wings
Kalamazoo, MI – Thomas Beauregard showed no signs of rust in his return after missing eight games with an upper-body injury. The Komets (24-19-2) leading goal scorer added to his total in the first. The Wings (19-20-5) tied it, but were unable to earn a point on the night when the K’s scored again in the third.
First Period:
Beauregard wasted little time finding the net tonight as he scored the first goal of the game at the 9:21 mark. “TBeau” intercepted a clearing attempt, missed his first shot, but slammed the rebound home. Shortly after the goal, Fort Wayne’s Tyler Butler and Kalamazoo’s Alexandre Mallet dropped gloves and went at it. The Wings answered on Nick Sirota’s power play goal with less than two seconds remaining in the opening frame to tie the game at 1-1.
Second Period:
The second was uneventful in the goal department, however, Sirota got the gate after taking offense to a Daniel Maggio check by butt-ending the Komets all-star defenseman. The Komets anemic power play has shown no signs of life tonight even with the five-minute man advantage.
Third Period:
The game remained tied deep into the final frame until Eric Giosa scored with a little over five minutes left in regulation. John Dunbar beat a defender to a cleared puck and then attempted to put it in the net. Giosa then collected the rebound and netted his ninth goal of the year just under the crossbar to put the K’s ahead for good. In the closing seconds J.M. Rizk nearly had an empty netter, but the officials ruled no goal.
Team Statistics:
SOG:
Power Play Efficiency
Score by Period:
Three Stars:
The Komets will finish the home and home series on Friday night at 8:00 p.m. EST. And yes that is the correct second star that was announced.