Fort Wayne Komets Turn Tables On Cincinnati Cyclones
By Kris Hill
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:
Power Play Efficiency
Score by Period:
Three Stars:
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.