PHN photo essay: Komets upend Bloomington

FORT WAYNE, Ind – Chris Auger came away with three points (2-1-3) as the Fort Wayne Komets skated to a 4-3 overtime victory over the Bloomington Blaze Wednesday night at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The overtime win keeps the Komets perfect at 4-0 in overtime games this season.
The opening period got off to a slow start for the Hometown Komets who allowed the visiting Bloomington Blaze to leave their mark on the scoring column first. Jason Dale (15^th) fired a low hard shot that got passed Komet net minder Gerry Festa for a power play strike at 5:57. It wasn’t until ten minutes later that a sleeping giant awoke.
 
Chris Auger had both first period power play tallies for the Komets. Auger (15^th) got started with a power play goal at 16:23. The quick minded forward was in perfect position when he picked up a rebound on the right side of the crease only to fire the puck into the top corner of the Bloomington cage. His second power play notch came in the waning seconds of the period at 19:22. Auger (16^th) crashed the net and was rewarded when he pried the loose puck from Blaze goaltender Zane Kalemba to score.
 
Shots were 21-13 in favor of the Komets through the first twenty minutes of play.
 
Both teams battled to no avail in the middle frame. Despite play that oozed of fierce intensity, no one was able to change the 2-1Komet lead of the earlier period. Though Bloomington outshot the K’s in the second period 12-10, Fort Wayne still held the overall total of 31-25 through the first forty minutes of action.
 
No one told the Bloomington Blaze they had been outshot and outplayed in the first two periods. Gerry Festa (FTW) and Zane Kalemba (BLM) valiantly continued to turn shooters away one by one until 13:04 of the third period when Omat Pacha (7^th) ripped one through traffic to beat Gerry Festa on the power play. Pacha’s game tying achievement was quickly followed by a Jordy Trottier (8^th) give-and-go mark at 13:54.
 
Trottier’s goal turned the tables and gave Bloomington a 3-2 lead. Just as the game started to get away from the Komets, enter Leo Thomas. Thomas (6^th), while assisted by Jamie Milam and Bobby Chaumont, acted on reflex when he slammed home a rebound puck into the Bloomington net at 16:11 to tie the match 3-3. No team was able to settle the score through sixty minutes of play so overtime was in effect.
 
It took just 2:33 of overtime before Jean-Michel Rizk fed off assists from Brent Henley and Chris Auger to score the game winning Komet goal. Rizk (16^th) marched in on goal and pushed a motionless puck past Zane Kalemba, dislodging the net from its moorings. Despite the net coming loose, referees wasted no time with reviewing the goal and immediately determined it counted. Fans rejoiced as “Komets Win!” echoed through the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
 
Notes : 3 Stars: 1^st Star: Chris Auger (2-1-3, +1) 2^nd Star: Gerry Festa (35 saves) 3^rd Star: Zane Kalemba (49 saves)…The Komets were 2-5 on the power play while the Blaze were also 2-5…Final shots were 53 to 38 in favor of the Komets…Gerry Festa made 35 saves for the Komets while Zane Kalemba stopped 49 for the Blaze…defenseman Dustin Molle and forward Brett Smith were scratches for Fort Wayne…The Komets entered tonight’s game second place in the Turner Conference with 71 points …The Blaze sat last in the Turner Conference with 44 points…The Komets are 4-0 in overtime games…Komets are (10-4-1) in February…The Komets have a home record of (16-7-2)…Bloomington is (6-16-4) on the road …Komets are 29-0-1 when leading after 2 periods…Attendance was 6,398
 
Fort Wayne’s overall record improves to 35-17-3 Bloomington falls to 19-28-7

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