Beauregard’s third period goal keeps Thunder alive

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Thomas Beauregard scored mid-way through the final period while Bryan Hogan grabbed his first professional playoff win as the Wichita Thunder defeated the Fort Wayne Komets 4-3 to avoid being swept in front of a sellout crowd of 10,480 people at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Saturday night. It was a wild affair the whole way through, but despite playing their second-straight game without the services of goaltender Adam Russo and forward Alex Bourret, the Thunder kept pace with the Komets as they picked up their first win of the best-of-seven Central Hockey League Ray Miron President’s Cup Final. Fort Wayne now leads the series 3-1 with Game Five scheduled for Monday night.

The two squads traded goals in the opening period, resulting in a 2-2 tie heading into the first intermission. The Komets jumped on the board first when Mike Vaskivuo cashed in on a penalty shot just 19-seconds into the game. Referee Mark-Andre Lavoie awarded the penalty shot after R.G. Flath covered the puck with a closed hand in the crease. Wichita later tied it up at the 6:49 mark on a power play goal by Daniel Tetrault. As a scramble developed in front of Komets net minder Nick Boucher, Tetrault snuck in down low and bounced a rebound over Boucher’s head to pick up Wichita’s second power play goal of the series. Fort Wayne re-gained the lead nine-minutes later on a power play goal of their own. With Justin Sawyer serving a minor for cross checking, Chris Auger redirected a shot from Daniel Maggio into the net to give the Komets a 2-1 lead. Matt Summers then marched in on Boucher from the right side and found the net to tie it with just 22-seconds remaining in the opening period. Jean-Michel Rizk put the home team on top once again 5:52 into the middle frame with Fort Wayne’s second power play goal. Immediately following a draw just outside the blue line, Rizk took a feed from Bryant Molle and found himself all alone in the slot before beating Hogan to his stick side to make it 3-2. The lead would hold for nearly seven minutes before veteran Aaron Davis tied it up. Beauregard sent a cross-ice pass to a streaking Davis who moved across the blue line and fired a shot past Boucher from just outside the left circle at 13:40. With 9:50 remaining in the third, Travis Wight brought the puck into the Fort Wayne zone then passed to Beauregard who beat Boucher with a wrist shot from the right circle. The Thunder then held off a furious last-minute charge from the Komets who held a six-on-four advantage with Boucher pulled. The Komets would come close, with a puck hitting a post with just five seconds remaining, but the Thunder would manage to escape with the win. Hogan was stellar in net, stopping 36 of the 39 shots he faced while his teammates only managed to put 21 shots on net at the other end of the ice. The Thunder can shift the series back to Wichita with a win in game five on Monday night. Opening face-off is set for 7:30 pm EDT. Contact the writer at: john.hall@prohockeynews.com Contact the photographer at johnrothwell@prohockeynews.com