The Komets got a pair of goals from Colin Chaulk and another from Leo Thomas, but the real story of this game was the defense, which killed off eight consecutive power plays after giving up a goal the first time the Mallards had the man advantage. Even though Quad City had nine power plays to the Komets' four, goaltender Nick Boucher only had to make 21 saves as the Komets out-shot the Mallards 33-22.
Fort Wayne, 14-8-1, has allowed three goals or less in 19 games this season.
``We only gave them three shots in the second period when they had four power plays," Komets coach Al Sims said. ``We did a great job killing penalties, and got a power-play goal of our own. I think the whole team played well for us to overcome the penalties and still come out on top."
Quad City scored first in the opening period when Juris Stals potted a power-play goal at 6:09. The Mallards maintained the lead until halfway through the second period when Chaulk scored his third of the season at 12:49 off assists from Justin Chwedoruk and Guy Dupuis. Leo Thomas gave Fort Wayne a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 18:54 off assists from Brandon Warner and Frankie DeAngelis.
The Mallards fought back and thought they had tied the game on a Shane Lovdahl power-play goal with 3:22 remaining, but referee Craig Welker disallowed the goal, saying a Mallards' player had illegally advance the puck to a teammate with the hand in the offensive zone. The Komets then iced the contest when Chaulk scored into an open net with 18 seconds remaining off a Brad MacMillan assist.
After scoring only one goal on his first 41 shots of the season, Chaulk has now scored three in his last 13 shots over four games. He has for points in the first two games of the weekend.
``Anytime Chaulker comes up with two goals, we usually win,'' Sims said. ``His line with Chwedoruk and (David) Hukalo dominated tonight and really created a lot of chances. Brandon Warner played his first full game on defense and really did a good job, too.''
The Komets are 5-0-1 against Quad City this season and 6-6 on the road. The win ended a three-game road losing streak.
Fort Wayne finishes the weekend with a 5 p.m. game at Bloomington before taking three days off for Christmas.
Comments
Nice to see the back to back wins...now lets see those wins against the Port Huron's and Muskegon's off the league....
Lets get all "giddy" because we beat the last place team twice on back to back nights.....
A win is a win and I'm sure most of us agree that we will take the 2 points anyway we can get it. Go refill your water Jon, you're getting low
I'd much rather have won those 2 games than lost them....can you imagine the hate up in this mug if there would have been 1, maybe 2 losses this weekend so far??? These are the game you have to win, you win them, you right the ship, you get the guys on track, and start going on a run where you win 5 or 6 in a row at a time. You beat the Flint's and QC's then you find ways to claw out the PH's, Bloomy's, Musky's, and Dayton's......
The defense has been solid. If these guys start finding the net, it will be on in the IHL.
The goaltending in this league has been superb.
I love that many Komets fans find a way to stay negative. Please never come work for me.
Hey this league is better top to bottom now so you beat the last place team twice. Not an easy night for anybody as you KNOW that these teams are gunning for the two time regular season and playoff champs! They come into the coliseum with 8500 people and they are pumped! We won so what the heck are you complaining about? Would you rather lose those two games? I swear we have so real spoiled people here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
QC is in last place for a reason... We got 2 wins we needed; but I'm not going to jump into the vat of Komet-aid that you guys perpetualy swim in and put on the orange colored goggles and pretend all is well...!!! What the heck is wrong with that position??? Realistic does not equal negative so get off your high horses and let others have thier realistic opinions with out trashing them!!!
G-Hockey, you couldnt afford me... :)
I swear some people will never be happy, they'll never settle for a good, to mediocre team. It either needs to be the worst team in the league that never wins, lord forbid the rest of us FANS have something positive to talk about. If they can't have that they'd rather have an undefeated team so they can say 'I told you so' or 'I knew we should have done that' better yet my favorite 'I told you we needed another fighter'. This is a hockey league, not the MMA; after all, in hockey you're allowed to hit the back of the head. The negative nancy's just have hopeless dreams of a euphoria. Quite your whining and crying and enjoy a couple of legitimate wins!
Quit, quite, close enough, i'd hate to have something else for you to complain about
Hit Somebody's complaint list for this season:
#1 Effort (Hustle, Heart, doing the little things)
#2 Physical Play (checking, around the net, in the corners)
#3 Caring about your teammates
As long as they address these things night in and night out, this team will leave me with a smile on my face, and a W in the win column. They have the talent, team defense, scoring ability, leadership, tools, etc........they just need to make sure those 3 things I listed are in their mind everytime they step on the ice.
I am not at all being negative. I think they are turning the corner.....they just need to bring their game every night. Play as a team.
I agree with jonndfi. Big deal. Overtime win 3 goals and open net 3 goals against last place team. We need some help putting the puck in the net. That is 2 goals a game in regulation against the last place team in the league. Not good enough.
The problem is, Hit, there has never been a team in history or in any league that did those things every night. Never has, never will. Even the team that set the records two years ago can't say it did those things every night. Do we all go to work every day and bring 100 percent? Honestly? There is no perfect team, no perfect league, etc. I don't think that means you settle, either, but you do have to be a little realistic.
I don't think it's possible to find the perfect balance of fighters and scorers for a lot of people on the blog. In fact, I think some folks on here would prefer to have a team of goons even if they lost every game. Even if they won every game, but there were never any fights, I think a lot of people would be very disappointed in a team like that. What do you think? Am I dead wrong? (Wouldn't be the first time.)
++ Tim and Blake
Weren't we pretty much in the same place a year ago that we are now? Year before we had to come from behind and go into mega overtimes to win the cup. This team has never been perfect and never will be.
I do believe the league is much more competative, something that I think is great and am enjoying. I love hockey and have watched it at all sorts of levels and would rather watch competition then absolute domination.
I also think fighting has its place in hockey and enjoy a good rumble but give me choice between a Probert and a Gretzky and I'll take the sniper every time. You need to score goals to win. If a fan's primary interest is fighting then I would suggest start following the fight scene. I've seen some pretty decent golden gloves and amature fights in the area. There's also a couple of bars I use to frequent where things could get interesting.
YES I GIVE 100% EVERYDAY AT WORK=SDI. I feel very blessed. If these guys don't then get them out of town fast & bring in ones that do.
Thanks JR...I guess everything is okay with the Komets. We needed the two wins but would say all of the problems are solved because we won back to back games. We took them to over time the first night and got an empty netter the second night. I would hope they can follow it up with a win tonight.