DANIEL R. PATMORE / SPECIAL TO THE COURIER & PRESS Evansville IceMen’s Mark Cody, (18) and Fort Wayne Komets’ Kaleigh Schrock, (79) fight it out on the Ice at 19:59 in to the first half as Linesman Dan Cohen looks on in Friday nights game at the Ford Center.

Fort Wayne, IN - The Fort Wayne Komets (26-26-2) are in a funk. They have lost five straight and seven of their last nine and are in a free-fall in the standings. The K’s started the weekend in the last playoff spot, but have landed in the tenth spot, six points out and three points behind the division rival Kalamazoo Wings.

At Evansville:

The IceMen dominated the Komets Friday night as Evansville Goalie Paul Dainton stopped all but a Tomas Beauregard shot early in the third period. Marco Cousineau started in net, but was pulled 4:21 into the middle frame after giving up Kevin Baker’s second goal of the night. Charlie Effinger allowed two, but this was after the game was already decided.

Game Statistics:

SOG:

SHOTS	1	2	3	Total
Fort Wayne Komets	13	19	6	38
Evansville IceMen	9	13	7	27

 Score by Period:

Team	1	2	3	Total
Fort Wayne Komets	0	0	1	1
Evansville IceMen	2	3	1	6

Power Play Efficiency

Prd	Fort Wayne Komets	Evansville IceMen
1st	0-2	1-1
2nd	0-1	0-0
3rd	0-3	1-1
Total	0-6	2-2

Three Stars:

Star	Team	Pos/Name	Stats
	Evansville IceMen	RW Kevin Baker	2 G, 2 A, +2, 3 SOG
	Evansville IceMen	C Todd Robinson	1 G, 3 A, +2, 1 SOG
	Evansville IceMen	G Paul Dainton	1 GA, 37 SVS

In Fort Wayne:

DANIEL R. PATMORE / SPECIAL TO THE COURIER & PRESS
Evansville IceMen’s Philippe Plante, (24) passes the puck as Fort Wayne Komets’ Matt Syroczynski, (27) tries to get it away as Komets’ Eric Giosa , (23) comes up from behind to assist in the first half of Friday nights game at the Ford Center.

Evansville swept the home-and-home series Saturday in front of a sellout crowd at the Memorial Coliseum. This also marked Komet captain Colin Chaulk’s first time in the lineup in 32 games. Chaulk could not help as the IceMen used a strong second period to give the Fort Wayne faithful an unfortunately familiar feeling. Eric Giosa scored the first goal of the game. Brandon Marino disrupted a potential four straight goal for Evansville in the second. J.M. Rizk did have a penalty shot attempt in the second, but Dainton was able to stop it.

Game Statistics:

SOG:

SHOTS	1	2	3	Total
Evansville IceMen	11	9	4	24
Fort Wayne Komets	7	15	8	30

 Score by Period:

Team	1	2	3	Total
Evansville IceMen	1	3	0	4
Fort Wayne Komets	1	1	0	2

Power Play Efficiency

Prd	Evansville IceMen	Fort Wayne Komets
1st	1-3	0-0
2nd	0-1	0-2
3rd	0-3	0-2
Total	1-7	0-4

Three Stars:

Star	Team	Pos/Name	Stats
	Evansville IceMen	RW Kevin Baker	2 G, 0 A, -1, 5 SOG
	Evansville IceMen	G Paul Dainton	2 GA, 28 SVS
	Fort Wayne Komets	C Eric Giosa	1 G, 1 A, +2, 1 Shot

In Toledo:

The Komets finally looked like a team needing a win. Unfortunately the K’s ran out of steam against the division rival Walleye. Matt Syroczynski and Brett Smith scored within 20 seconds of each other in the middle of the first period, but the Komets could not keep the momentum going. Former Komet Stephon Throne netted an equalizer soon after and the Walleye never looked back. Brandon Marino notched his 18th goal of the season late in the third after Toledo scored a total of four unanswered.

Game Statistics:

SOG:

SHOTS	1	2	3	Total
Fort Wayne Komets	14	16	5	35
Toledo Walleye	12	6	11	29

 Score by Period:

Team	1	2	3	Total
Fort Wayne Komets	2	0	1	3
Toledo Walleye	2	0	4	6

Power Play Efficiency

Prd	Fort Wayne Komets	Toledo Walleye
1st	0-0	0-1
2nd	0-0	0-0
3rd	0-0	0-1
Total	0-0	0-2

Three Stars:

Star	Team	Pos/Name	Stats
	Toledo Walleye	F Nino Musitelli	1 G, 2 A, +2, 3 SOG
	Toledo Walleye	F Stephon Thorne	1 G, 1 A, +1, 33 Shots
	Toledo Walleye	G Jordan Pearce	3 GA, 32 SVS

The Komets will faceoff against the division leading Cincinnati Cyclones Friday at 8:00 p.m. EST at home.

Photographs by DANIEL R. PATMORE / SPECIAL TO EVANSVILLE COURIER & PRESS

Evansville, IN - The Fort Wayne Komets got out to a slow start tonight against Evansville giving up two goals in the first period (both off of penalties). The good news though is those were the only two allowed in the game by rookie goalie Kenny Reiter.

First Period:

The first period of play saw the IceMen (16-25-4) get a power play goal off the stick of defenseman Daniel Tetrault 6:03 into the first frame after Komet winger Garrett Klotz was called for tripping. The All-Star selections from both teams got into some penalty trouble starting with Komet defenseman Daniel Maggio who got five for fighting when he and IceMen winger Mark Cody dropped gloves at the 8:06 mark. Reiter also accumulated some penalty minutes tonight. He was first penalized for playing the puck outside the trapezoid and then again before the end of the period for tripping. The later resulted in Evansville scoring their final goal of the game with 14 seconds left in the opening frame.

Second Period:

Fort Wayne native Kaleigh Schrock also got five for fighting, but was able to get the roughing minor included on Evansville winger Jim McKenzie just seconds into the middle frame. The Komets (23-19-2) went on the man advantage once more in the frame, but could do nothing. Brandon Marino finally got the Komets on the board with a 20-foot backhander at the 13:09 mark. John Dunbar netted his third of the season off of Eric Giosa’s pass two minutes later. Marino notched his 14th of the year to bookend the scoring in the frame with just over a minute left.

Third Period:

In the final frame, duel penalties were awarded at the 6:06 mark. A minute later Evansville All-Star selection Nathan Moon was hit with an unsportsmanlike minor, major and game misconduct for abuse of official. This led to the Komets sealing the game on Brett Smith’s ninth of the year from Marino 8:07 into the final frame.

Game Statistics:

SOG:

 Power Play Efficiency

Three Stars:

1. FW - 13 Brandon Marino
2. FW - 41 Brett Smith
3. EVN - 7 Daniel Tetrault

The Komets will take the ice again on the road Wednesday. This time in Kalamazoo at 7:00 p.m. EST. The radio broadcast for the game is available through the team’s website or wowo.com