Heading into Rockford on Saturday night, a lot of things could have gone wrong for the Fort Wayne Komets. The Komets were coming off a poor performance the night before in a 2-1 home loss to Muskegon, they had been embarrassed 5-1 in their last trip to Rockford and it was their third game in three nights.
The Komets pulled together to win 4-3 in a shootout and extend their Western Division lead to six points over the IceHogs. They also improved their road record to 4-3.
``We played really well,'' Komets coach Pat Bingham said. ``That was perhaps our best team win where everybody in the dressing room contributed.''
The Komets had led throughout the game and had a 3-2 lead until halfway through the third period when Rockford scored on a two-man advantage.
``Their crowd was giving them a lot of energy, and we still had a penalty to kill and I comtemplated a time out and asked the guys if we needed one,'' Bingham said. ``They all felt confident enough that they were OK, and we went back out and killed it. That was a big momentum swing, and by the last shift of the game we had them bottled up in their own zone, and they were playing preventative because we were getting chances. It was nice to see that confidence and the will to win.''
The line of Bruce Richardson, Jonathan Goodwin and Daniel Goneau broke a slump with three goals, including two by Richardson. J.C. Ruid scored in the shootout, and goaltender Kevin St. Pierre stopped all five Rockford shooters.
``There were several players that showed us more than they have,'' Bingham said. ``It's a challenge involved here because it was a tough task to go in there. I thought we got good solid performances from everybodd and that's what you hope for. I like the way everybody responded and rose to the challenge. They didn't try to do too much, they just played very hard and were mindful of the details.''
The Komets come home to play Quad City on Friday and Rockford on Saturday and end a stretch of playing seven of nine games at home. Then they hit the road for three straight road games and seven of 10 away from Memorial Coliseum.
Comments
Oh, and the Bears need to bench Rex Grossman so hard his butt is bruised for the rest of the season. Maybe thenthey'll get him to quit throwing off his #$@$&^% back foot.
Blake Grossman has been doing that since his days at Bloomington South so I am afraid that habit will not be broken...Can you believe the Colts what a team...I could not resist to throw in a shot there Blake.
Nice article Blake. Happy to see the Komets rebound from the disappointing loss on Friday. Was also nice to see the #1 line have a good game and put some goals on the board.
As far as Grossman goes, Griese should be the starter and most fans know it. Since I am not a Bears fan, I am glad to see Grossman in there.
kyle orton
Now that was a low blow, Chuckitt. LOL.
stick with Grossman LOL
You Bears fans crack me up. You guys are what? 9-2? I agree he is either wonderful or dreadful with no in-between, but still, what a season so far for the bears. Griese is a back-up for a reason. He stinks as a starting QB. Kyle Orton is a joke. You put that guy in and all I will say is, good luck.
Go Colts, Go Komets!!!
DA CUBS ARE GOING TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES next YEAR! WHO DA BEARS?
Cubs fan here too, but I won't go that far. Cubs could lose with the All Star team. They need to sign pitching. I am hopeful, but very guarded in my optimism.
Bobby Douglass might be available to help the Bears.
The Komets handled alot of adversity Saturday night and after the struggle against Muskegon Friday it was good to see.
I was almost expecting them to play Dan McWhinney last night just to shake things up but the right choice was made.
16 games.....
14 starts for Frenchy
2 starts for McWhinney
some things never change.
Yeah, Hit, we sound just like Komets fans, dontcha think?
Awhile ago someone asked about an update on Jed Ortmeyer. Well here is the good news:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2671530
Blake, I heard Mike Phipps is fresh and ready to go.
Hit, why in the heck would you play McWhinney anymore than he already has? Frenchy has been the best goalie in the league this year and it really is not even close. If McWhinney were to have played this past weekend, he would have played against Bloomington. Certainly, you were not going to play him against Muskegon and last week McWhinney was dreadful against Rockford. Maybe McWhinney will play against Quad City Friday, but i hope Frenchy plays both games as he gives us the best chance to win. I thought winning was more important than making sure a backup goalie gets playing time....
Playing St. Pierre all the time wears him down to the point he tanks in the playoffs which is my big concern. I was a bit surprised that McWhinney didn't get a game this past weekend. I don't expect McWhinney to play at all this coming weekend as the Komets are only playing 2 home games.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjcLBmSjbcM
Link to the fight between Syrzonski and Lizon from Saturday. Matt needs to keep his gloves on. I am amazed that he was so ill prepared to fight. It looks like he has no idea what to do. I give him all the credit in the world for the attempt, but there's no need to take that kind of beating. I hope he keeps hitting and playing hard, I just hope he does it with his gloves on. Wonder if we will ever get a legit guy to go with the likes of Lizon?
I was not at all being critical of the choice of goaltender. Sometimes a coach will put the backup in to send a message. As I think about it more, because they lost Saturday keeping St Pierre in made alot of sense.
Not saying Dan is not capable of beating Rockford because I do believe he is a capable goaltender who is only going to get better but you want your #1 in there to give you the "best shot" to take 4 points out of the weekend. Had they lost Saturday it would have ended an exhausting weekend on a sour note. The Komets had something to prove against Rockford and I am sure Frenchy wanted to be in there.
Other theories.. I wonder if they beat Muskegon if you don't put Dan in for the third game. You would have just beaten the #1 team and Rockford might have been a "letdown game" Then again in that situation you need your #1 to steal a game where the team may not be as crisp. You want to give your team the best chance to win but you also need to keep your backup sharp. Heck I hated having to make decisions like this when I was coaching a kids team. I can only imagine what Coach Bingham has running through his mind!
Matt's upset because people have said he doesn't use his body enough to hit poeple, and now he's trying to take it a step farther. You're right JM, he's not a fighter, YET. I'm sure if that's what he wants to become the K's can have Fletcher come in and give him lessons like he did with Worlton.
Anybody see where Trent Yawney got fired as the Blackhawks coach today. The Hawks have apparently replaced Yawney wiht Blackhawk legend and Asst. coach Denis Savard.
I'm surprised coaching legend Steve Martinson wasn't hired for the job...lol.
I loved Brosal's comments in the Rockford paper calling him "the best coach in professional hockey" or something retarded like that!
WOW! Matt's fight.. wooo..bad. I like this one though.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-0GTXXxLbk
I agree Nanci.. I'd rather see Pascal fight anyday. I love the announcer, if he isn't a homer I don't know who is!
Talk about an exhausting weekend. The K's have had 2 weekends where they have played 3 games in a row. Starting Dec 22 they've got 7 in 10 days. My question is how do you get a team prepared for that string of games. I agree I wish they would play McWhinney a little more. At the rate that Frenchy is going he may be wasted by the time the playoffs get here.
Thank god Lizon let up on Syz(sp), He could have killed the boy.
I think Lizon figured out the Matt wasn't a fighter and therefore not worth the extra effort.
Savard to be interviewed by the fan590 in a few minutes.
http://www.fan590.com/
Savard to be interviewed by the fan590 in a few minutes.
http://www.fan590.com/
Yes, you want your best player playing in goal as much as possible. Are the most important games now in November and December....or are they more like March and April? We all talked about this subject early on in the summer and the majority of you guys and gals all thought that Frenchy playing 90% of the games was a bad thing. Now he has played 14 out of 16 and looks to be a lock to play both games this weekend and then we go on the road for 7 out of 10 games which I would imagine he will play all but maybe one game. We could continue to let McWhinney waste away on the bench with little to no experience and take the chance that French Toast gets hurt or turns to Burnt Toast due to being over-played.....or we could play the kid and give him a game maybe once a week and get his skills and confidence up just in case.
How do we really know what Dan can do anyway? He hasn't been given the chance to perform that much. If he isn't that good...why aren't we digging for another guy to share time with Superman...or is this not what Kevin and the Komets want?
Healthy energized sharp Frenchy?
or
Tired over-used un-inspired hurt French Toast?
You Decide.....
I think Cloutier will be back for Saturday's game. Nashville claimed Michael Leighton off of waiver's from Anaheim and sent Goering back to Milwaukee. That should mean Clouiter's return to Rockford.