This weekend was an example of how the Komets will probably either win a first-round playoff series 4-0 or lose 4-0. They Komets have a horrible problem of playing to the level of their opponent. For the last two-thirds of the season that's been OK because they've usually found ways to win. They played pretty even with Kalamazoo in the first period on Sunday but trailed 3-0 mostly because of some shakey goaltending. Kevin St. Pierre struggled mightily, while Kalamzoo's Joel Martin made some marvelous saves.
There are 15 games remaining in the regular season, and the Komets have to solve this trend. They are making this playoff push much harder on themselves by letting lesser teams hang around into the third period. Their penalty kill is also starting to struggle mightily, but that can improve in a hurry with improved play from St. Pierre.
Before the first period on Sunday, the Komets had out-shot their opponents in 11 consecutive periods. That added up to a total of 191 shots for the Komets against 80 for their opponents. The total score? 13 goals against and only 10 for. That has to improve in a hurry.
