Player-Only Meeting Works For Fort Wayne Komets, For Now

Photo by Cathie Rowand | Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette
Komets’ Eric Giosa takes a shot at Cincinnati’s goalie Michael Houser in the first period Saturday at the Memorial Coliseum.

Fort Wayne, IN - The Komets (25-20-2) responded to the player-only meeting after their 5-1 blow-out loss by doing to the Cincinnati Cyclones (26-16-6) what Kalamazoo did to them the night before. Charlie Effinger was strong in net for the K’s who started strong and didn’t let up.

First Period:

Photo by Cathie Rowand | Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette
Komets’ Kaleigh Shrock and Cincinnati’s Anthony Luciani each get a 5 minute penalty for fighting first period Saturday at the Memorial Coliseum.

Alternate captain Brett Smith notched a power play goal at the 9:18 mark to get the scoring started. On the ensuing face-off, Fort Wayne native Kaleigh Schrock and Cyclone forward Anthony Luciani dropped gloves. David Pacan of Cincinnati also tried in vain to spark his team this time against Smith.

Second Period:

The K’s continued their strong start behind a pair of Matt Firman goals at the 7:19 and 13:27 marks respectively. The 13:27 goal was assisted by Smith completing his Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Cincinnati starting net minder Michael Houser was pulled after the goal.

Third Period:

Fort Wayne didn’t take the foot of the throttle in the final frame. Matt Syroczynski netted his first goal since returning to the team 3:21 into the third. Effinger then lost the shutout at the six minute mark when Pacan score. K’s defenseman Scott Kishel notched his second goal of the year mid-way through. Less than a minute later, Schrock scored on a pass from Jean-Michel Rizk. John Dunbar ended the Komets scoring with just over three minutes left. Cyclone defenseman Taylor Ellington ended the scoring for the night about a minute later.

Team Statistics:

SOG:

SHOTS	1	2	3	Total
	6	15	15	36
	13	9	13	37

 Power Play Efficiency

Prd
1st	0-2	1-3
2nd	0-1	0-1
3rd	1-3	0-0
Total	1-6	1-4

Score by Period:

Team	1	2	3	Total
	0	0	2	2
	1	2	4	7

Three Stars:

Star	Team	Pos/Name	Stats
		Forward Matt Firman	2 G, 1 A, +2, 8 shots
		Goalie Charlie Effinger	2 GA, 34 Saves
		Center Brett Smith	1 G (PPG), 1 A, +2, 2 Shots (Gordie Howe Hat Trick)

The Komets will head out west to Colorado for three games against the Eagles. This is their only time facing a team from the Western Conference this season. The first game is Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. MST.