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.

Michelle Davies – The Journal Gazette
Kenny Reiter, goaltender for the Komets, slaps the puck away after an attempted shot on goal by the Toledo Walleyes in the second period of Friday night’s game.

Fort Wayne, IN - The Komets had a chance to jump into the top spot in the North Division for the first time since Opening Day. The K’s had to mount a huge comeback, but fell short in the later stages of the game.

The first period was fairly uneventful. The two teams traded power plays that resulted in no goals.

The second period started out fast and furious. Toledo (20-16-4) got things kicked off with a goal by winger Nino Musitelli at the 1:45 mark. Walleye left winger Willie Coetzee made it 2-0 two minutes later. The Komets (22-18-2) got on the board at the 6:50 mark on Mike Hoban’s fourth of the year, and third is as many games.

The third period saw Toledo score twice within two minutes on goals by Tyler Brenner and Cody Lampl. Komet All-Star Daniel Maggio netted his fifth of the year from Brandon Marino at the 16:09 mark of the final frame to start a rally. Standout winger Luca Caputi got the K’s within one a minute and half later. Coach Al Sims tried to get the equalizer by pulling Kenny Reiter late for an extra attacker, but resulted in the Walleye icing the game on Coetzee’s second of the night.

The Komets will finish up the first half of the season tonight against the Kalamazoo Wings at 7:30 p.m. EST. Audio is available through the Komets website.

Three Stars:

1. TOL LW 15 Willie Coetzee

2. TOL RW 7 Nino Musitelli

3. FW RW 13 Brandon Marino

SOG: