MOLINE, Ill. – The Fort Wayne Komets are on to the second round of the ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs. The Komets used a pair of power play goals to grab a 3-2 series-clinching win over the Quad City Mallards on Saturday night in front of 2,000 fans at iWireless Center.
The Komets jumped out to a 3-0 lead mid-way through the contest, and that would prove to be just enough as they held off a comeback attempt from the Mallards.
Fort Wayne got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead at 6:33 of the first on a Trevor Cheek goal from Kyle Follmer. The Komets added another tally just over 10-minutes later on a power play goal from Jamie Schaafsma, assisted by Jason Brinkley and Shawn Szydlowski. Fort Wayne entered the first intermission holding a 2-0 lead.
The Mallards would go on to out-shoot the Komets 17-9 in the second period, as both teams would find the net once each. Kyle Thomas made it 3-0 on a power play goal at 12:14 of the second, with assists going to Schaafsma and Mike Cazzola.
The Mallards would then score a pair of goals just over two minutes apart to make things interesting.
Grant Arnold got Quad City on the board late in the second, scoring a power play marker from Justin Kovacs and Sam Warning at 19:25. Following the second intermission, Chris Francis found the net 1:46 into the final period to pull within one goal.
From there, Fort Wayne continued to apply offensive pressure, out-shooting Quad City 12-6 as the Mallards failed to find the equalizer.
The series-clinching win moves the Komets into the Western Conference semi-finals against the winner of the best-of-seven series between the Toldeo Walleye and Kalamazoo Wings. Toledo holds a 3-2 advantage in that series, with game six set for Sunday afternoon in Kalamazoo.
Contact the writer: John.Hall@prohockeynews.com
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