WICHITA, Kan. – Chris Auger scored two goals for Fort Wayne as the Komets handed the Wichita Thunder their first home loss of the playoffs in game one of the Central Hockey League Ray Miron President’s Cup Final in front of 5,209 fans at Intrust Bank Arena on Saturday night. 
Komets goalie Nick Boucher stopped 30 shots, while teammate Colin Chaulk added three assists in the 5-3 win. Thomas Beauregard scored two goals and Alex Bourret added two assists as Wichita out-shot Fort Wayne 33-26. Jamie Milam and Bobby Chaumont scored a pair of goals within a two-minute time span midway through the first period to give Fort Wayne a comfortable lead. Milam’s marker at 10:15 made it 1-0 after he picked up a drop pass from Chaumont in the slot then marched in on net and lifted a backhanded shot above Thunder goaltender Adam Russo’s right shoulder. Chaumont then found the net at 12:10, as he deflected a Brett Smith shot past Russo to make it 2-0. The Thunder came up short on three power play chances in the opening period, and was 0-for-7 on the night, running their playoff total to just 3-for-49 (6.12%). Fort Wayne, who has faired better on the man advantage (10-for-47, 21.28%), also failed to score on two power play chances. Wichita would once again dominate the second period, as they added three goals to tie it up heading into the final period. To date the Thunder have scored 24 second period goals in the post-season. Garett Bembridge cut the deficit in half five-minutes into the middle frame, scoring his first post-season goal. Bembridge took a feed from Bourret, and slipped the puck past Boucher from point blank range to make it 2-1. Auger answered with his first goal just over 12-minutes later, blasting a shot from the slot that trickled off of Russo and into the net, making the score 3-1. From there, Beauregard caught fire, scoring twice in just over a minute to keep Wichita in the game. Beauregard deflected a shot past Boucher at 17:16 then tipped home a centering feed from Bourret on a two-on-one situation at 18:34 to tie the game at 3-3. Eight-minutes into the third Auger would pick up the eventual game-winner, slapping a shot over Russo’s right shoulder from the top of the right circle to re-gain the lead for the Komets. Jamie Lovell’s empty-netter with one-second left iced the game for Fort Wayne. Teams winning game one of the President’s Cup Final have gone on to win the championship 16-of-19 times. However, the last two Central Hockey League champions (Bossier-Shreveport in 2011, Rapid City in 2010) came back to hoist the cup after losing the first game of the best-of-seven series. Wichita now focuses on evening the series as they play host to Fort Wayne again on Sunday afternoon for game two at Intrust Bank Arena. Face-off is set for 5:05 pm CDT. Contact the writer at: john.hall@prohockeynews.com
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