Sports stats



Weekend Preview - Fort Wayne

December 4, 2010 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Dayton Gems News Release


One of the best and most heated rivalries in the Central Hockey League will ignite once again as the Gems host the Fort Wayne Komets tonight at Hara Arena. Although this will only be the third meeting between the two teams and the first in the last month, things will pick up over the course of the remainder of the season. The Komets and the Gems will play each other 11 more times after tonight's contest with six of those games in Fort Wayne and the remaining five games at Hara Arena. The Gems have been very successful against this team early on holding a perfect 2-0 mark entering tonight. They have gotten the job done with above average goaltending from both Jeff Jakaitis and Derek MacIntyre, who have combined to stop an astonishing 83 of 85 shots against in the two wins. The Gems have outscored the Komets 6-2 in the first two games of the series. Both teams have struggled on the power play with Dayton only converting on 1-11 chances and Fort Wayne on 2-14 man-advantage opportunities.

SCOUTING REPORT ON FORT WAYNE:

The Komets enter tonight's game coming off of a loss at home to Bloomington last night by the count of 5-3. After trailing 2-0 early, Fort Wayne answered back with two goals within 2:29 of each other to tie the game at 2-2 by the end of two periods. Bloomington would go onto score three goals in the third, two of which came on the power play. The Komets allowed four of Bloomington's five goals on the man-advantage and only killed off one power play against (4-5). Forward Kaleigh Schrock extended his points-streak to four games, while Chris Francis extended his to five games. The Komets acquired forward Tab Lardner in a trade with Missouri earlier this week and he recorded a goal in his first game as a Komet last night. Defenseman Frank DeAngelis was named the CHL Oakley Player of the Week on Monday after recording seven points (2G 5A) in three games last week, leading the Komets to a 3-0 record that week. The Komets have one of the best power plays in the league right now having converted on 81-102 chances (20.6%) which is good for fifth overall in the CHL. Fort Wayne has struggled early in games against opponents in the Turner Conference with a record of 4-8-0; they are 1-1-1 against Berry Conference teams.

GEMS GAME NIGHT:

The Gems return home tonight after a tough road loss at the hands of the Evansville IceMen last night 3-2. Evansville jumped out to an early

1-0 lead. Ernie Stewart tied the game at 1-1 moments later. Evansville answered back with not one but two goals within 21 seconds of each other to take a 3-1 lead after one period. The Gems got one more back in the second period but that would be all for the night. By recording a goal in last night's game, Mike Vaskivuo has now put up eight points (4G 4A) in his last 10 games. Vaskivuo is also tied with Kyle Bochek and Chris Lipsett for the team lead in scoring against the Komets with two points. Dayton has been outshot by Fort Wayne in the first two games of the series by a wide margin of 85-53. The Gems have scored four of their six goals against the Komets in the third period in the series. Dayton has the fourth best team goals against average in the CHL only allowing 53 goals in 18 games played (2.88 per game). Defenseman Paul Ferraro and forward Erik Boisvert are tied for third in the CHL rookie standings for most power play goals with three each and Boisvert is tied with three other rookies for the top spot in game-winning-goals with two. The penalty kill has been getting much stronger over the course of the last five games moving the Gems from 17th up to 12th in penalty kill percentage at 79.6%. Dayton is 2-3 in their last five games, but 6-4 in their last ten. Opponents have outscored the Gems 16-13 in the opening frame this season. The Gems are unbeaten at home when holding the lead, posting a record of 2-0-0 when leading after the first period and 4-0-1 when leading after the second.

SEASON SERIES (FORT WAYNE-14 games)

11-11-10 at Dayton 7:00 p.m. (Dayton Won 4-1)

11-20-10 at Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m. (Dayton Won 2-1)

12-4-10 at Dayton 7:30 p.m.

12-18-10 at Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.

12-22-10 at Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.

12-26-10 at Dayton 5:00 p.m.

12-27-10 at Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.

1-1-11 at Dayton 7:30 p.m.

1-8-11 at Dayton 7:30 p.m.

2-12-11 at Dayton 7:30 p.m.

2-18-11 at Fort Wayne 8:00 p.m.

2-20-11 at Fort Wayne 5:00 p.m.

2-27-11 at Dayton 5:00 p.m.

3-23-11 at Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.

• Discuss this story on the Central Hockey League message board...

Central Hockey League Stories from December 4, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central