The Fort Wayne Komets moved into second place in the International Hockey League by beating the Port Huron IceHawks 5-1 on Saturday night before 8,010 Memorial Coliseum fans.
The Komets scored first 22 seconds after the opening faceoff when Matt Syroczynski threw a puck in front of the Port Huron goal where Konstantin Shafranov reached around the defenseman to tap it in. The Komets added to the lead six minutes later when P.C. Drouin scored his 20th of the season with an unassisted tally.
"I thought we played really well defensively again and had a really good first period," Komets coach Al Sims said. "We've done that the last three games and obviously it's spelled easy victories for us."
The win was the Komets' third in a row and ended a three-game homestand that saw them out-score Bloomington, Muskegon and Port Huron 14-3.
"We're really thrilled with keeping teams like Port Huron and Muskegon down to one goal or two," Sims said. "We'll win most of those games."
Port Huron cut the margin to 2-1 early in the third period, but Drouin, Colin Chaulk and Sean O'Connor scored for the Komets who kept pouring on the offensive pressure.
Muskegon won at Quad City so the Komets were unable to gain ground on the first-place Lumberjacks.
The Komets also knocked their magic number for clinching a playoff spot to seven points.
Fort Wayne lost forward Brad MacMillan to a separated shoulder on his first shift of the game. He'll see the team doctor on Monday.
