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Gems Shutout First Place Komets 5-0 at Hara Saturday Night

February 11, 2012 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Dayton Gems News Release


Dayton, OH - The Dayton Gems, led by a flawless performance from veteran netminder Larry Sterling and a two goal night by Brett Lutes, would dominate the Turner Conference's top team with a convincing 5-0 shutout win on Cassano's Italian Ice Saturday night. Scoring for the Gems were Brett Lutes (2), Matt Baxter, Tim Hartung and Nic Polaski.

Ending their grueling four games in five nights series with a home matchup with the first place Fort Wayne Komets, the Gems would waste little time revving the offensive machinery with a Brett Lutes powerplay goal to give Dayton the lead and the ultimate game winner at the 12:13 mark of the first. Despite the fact that the Komets outshot the Gems 14-5 through the first twenty minutes, Sterling maintained his presence between the pipes to help his team skate into the first intermission with the lead.

Dayton came out for the second and didn't look back, as they would wind up scoring four straight goals in the middle stanza to bury the Komets. Lutes again lit the lamp to start the period, picking up a pass from Jon Ornelas and John Kennedy at 11:59 before Matt Baxter netted his fourth goal of the season assisted by Damian Surma to make it 3-0 just minutes later at 14:57. A pair of powerplay goals less than three minutes apart would cap off the offense for the Gems in the closing moments of the second period. Tim Hartung sent in a shot from the point that blew past Fort Wayne goalie Gerry Festa at the 17:20 mark before Nic Polaski sent the hometown Hara crowd jumping to their feet with the team's third powerplay goal of the night with just :03 showing on the clock. With the Komets unable to get past Sterling, Brian Gratz's Gems squad didn't take their foot off the accelerator in the second period, with their 17 shots on goal in the period matched by the Komets despite the scoring deficit.

Fort Wayne again came out looking to reduce the Gems lead with a barrage of shots towards Sterling, but would be unable to turn on the red light once through the final horn to give Larry Sterling his first shutout of the season. Final shots in the third favored the Komets 19-5 for a regulation total of 50-26 Fort Wayne.

With the win, the Gems snap a season high five game winless streak and improve their overall record to 16-22-9 and their season record against the Komets to 3-6-1.

Dayton takes a day off on Sunday before traveling to Tulsa, Oklahoma to face the Oilers on Tuesday night.

The Kettering Medical Center is the official presenting sponsor of the Dayton Gems.



Central Hockey League Stories from February 11, 2012


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