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Komets Move into Second Place in the North; Walleye Visit Friday

January 14, 2013 - ECHL (ECHL) - Fort Wayne Komets News Release


Fort Wayne, IN - The Komets (21-17-2, 44 points) gained four points for a split of the four games played last week and moved into second place in the ECHL North Division trailing leader Cincinnati (12-12-4) by four points after 40 games.

About last week -After stumbling 4-1 at Evansville Wednesday night, the Komets recovered by opening a three-game series against the North Division leader Cyclones with a 2-1 shootout victory at Cincinnati Friday. The series switched to Fort Wayne where the Komets fell 5-2 Saturday before rebounding with a 3-2 overtime win Sunday to salvage four out of a possible six points from the weekend series.

It was a busy week of player movement due to the end of the NHL lockout. Players recalled to Norfolk of the AHL were Ryan Hegarty (D), Matt Kennedy (F), Garret Klotz (F) and Nick Shaus (D) while Komet defenseman Daniel Maggio was loaned to Norfolk. To fill the void, the Komets looked to Dayton of the FHL and Pensacola of the SPHL for a total of six skaters including Brayden Metz (F), Ron Cramer (F), John Dunbar (F), Mike Hoban (F), Nick Wheeler (D) and Jeremy Gates (D).

Milestones -Firsts for call-ups: Five of the new players called up from Dayton (FHL) and Pensacola (SPHL) scored their first pro points in Sunday's 3-2 overtime win over the visiting Cincinnati Cyclones. Scoring first pro markers were forward Brayden Metz (first pro goal and point), defenseman Jeremy Gates (first pro point-assist), forward John Dunbar (first pro goal and point), forward Mike Hoban (first career game-winning goal) and defenseman Nick Wheeler (first pro point-assist).

J.M. Rizk (RW) skated his 100th pro game (regular season) Friday at Cincinnati. Tyler Butler (D) appeared in his 600th career game (regular season) Saturday against Cincinnati.....Thomas Beauregard has 199 ECHL career points (regular season and playoffs).....Eric Giosa has skated 198 career regular season games.....Brett Henley has appeared in 499 regular season pro games....Kaleigh Schrock has 99 regular season career points.....Brett Smith has skated 99 regular season and playoff career ECHL games.

Komet streaks -Goaltender Kenny Reiter extended his win streak to four games with the 3-2 overtime victory Sunday against Cincinnati in Fort Wayne. Center Brett Smith had points in each of the three games in the series against Cincinnati (1g, 2a).

By the numbers

One-goal margins : Both Fort Wayne wins of the week were by one goal to push the Komets' record for one-goal games to 13-1-2.

Holding the lead : The Komets are 9-0-0 when leading after one period and 12-2-1 when taking the lead into the third stanza.

Just get three : The Komets are 18-2-0 when scoring three or more goals in a game.

Getting even -The Komets evened their season series record against Cincinnati at 3-3-0 with the 3-2 home win Sunday. It was the first Komet win against Cincinnati on home ice in four meetings this season. The Komets extended their win streak in Cincinnati to two games with Friday's 2- 1 shootout win. Cincinnati visits Fort Wayne Saturday, Feb. 2 for the next faceoff against the two division rivals.

Komet leaders of the week -Smith scored a goal and added two assists for a three-point week, finishing on a three-game point streak. Netminder Reiter won both of his appearances, each lasting extra time for a total of 128:35 (2.14 GP) and allowed three goals for a 1.40 goals-against average and stopped 73 of 76 shots for a .924 save percentage for the week.

Komet leaders -Brandon Marino (RW) continues to lead and rank third in the ECHL with 32 assists and 44 points and tops the plus/minus with +7.....J.M. Rizk (RW) leads with 15 goals....All-Star defenseman Daniel Maggio leads with 123 penalty minutes.

KOMETS ON ICE THIS WEEK-

- Wednesday Komets at Evansville IceMen (15-21-4, 34 points), 8:15pm ET- The Komets begin a week of games against North Division rivalries when the skate at Evansville Wednesday. It's the sixth of 11 meetings this season with the Komets holding the series advantage 3-2-0. It's the third of five trips to the Ford Center where the Komets are 1-1-0. The IceMen have been on fire of late posting a 4-1-1 record in the last six outings and are unbeaten in regulation (3-0-1) the last four games. Evansville is in last place in the North division and trails first-place Cincinnati by 14 points while eight points behind Toledo in the race for playoff position.

- Friday Toledo Walleye (19-16-4, 42 points) at Komets, 7:30pm -The Komets will host the Walleye in the first meeting since New Year's Eve when Toledo scored a deciding 9-4 win in Fort Wayne. It's the seventh of 11 meetings between the division rivals and the fifth of seven Toledo visits. The Komets have not solved the Walleye in four previous games on Coliseum ice but have won both visits to Toledo so far this season. The third-place Walleye trail the Komets by only two points and are idle until they travel to Fort Wayne Friday. Toledo is winless in their last five games (0-3-2) since a 2-0 win at Kalamazoo Jan. 4.

- Saturday Komets at Kalamazoo (16-18-3, 35 points), 7:30pm- Saturday the Komets make their seventh of 10 trips to Kalamazoo where they are 3-2-1 after six visits. The Komets lead the season series 6-3-1. The Wings are in fourth place in the North division and trail Toledo by seven points in the race for playoff position after 37 games. Kalamazoo hosts Elmira Wednesday and skates at Evansville Friday before welcoming the Komets to Wings Stadium Saturday night.

Hottest ticket in town-- Single game tickets and season tickets are on sale. Single game tickets can be purchased at the Coliseum Ticket Office and online at www.ticketMaster.com . Season tickets are on sale at the Komet office, 1010 Memorial Way, Fort Wayne. For information visit www.komets.com, or call 260-483-0011.

Komets.com -Check out the official Komet team website at www.komets.com featuring an interactive calendar of the Komets' schedule, info on all Komet events as well as home and road games. Komets.com also features an on-line team store. Fans are able to download and access photo galleries, player information, video, audio and other multi-media features as well as follow Komet gamecasts live and much more.

Komet Hockey worldwide at Xfinity KometCast - Legendary broadcaster Bob Chase celebrates his 60th anniversary season calling Komet hockey radio-rinkside. Hear Komet Hockey worldwide at Xfinity KometCast at www.komets.com . Games are also scheduled to be broadcast on WOWO Radio AM 1190 and FM 92.3.

INC Soundoff with the Komets Monday nights -- The Komets, Indiana's News Center and title sponsor PHP present a live weekly televised sports program on Monday nights at 7:30 on WPTA TV 21 Alive. The half-hour show is televised from the WPTA TV studios each week with INC's Tommy Schoegler as host and features highlights, interviews and call-ins as Komet players and personnel serve as co-hosts.


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