FORT WAYNE, Ind. – In their first game since the league-wide holiday break, the Kalamazoo Wings fell to the Fort Wayne Komets, 5-2, on Saturday at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
Despite a sluggish start for Kalamazoo, they found the back of the net and sprang out to a 1-0 lead. Charlie Vasaturo forced a slap shot wide of the Komets’ net, which bounced to off the boards to the tape of David Gilbert, who potted his seventh of the season.
Fort Wayne didn’t stay down for long, equalizing the game just 27 seconds later. Kyle Thomas carried into the offensive zone along the left-wing boards and fired a shot on Joel Martin at the top of the faceoff dot. The puck hopped off the stick of a Kalamazoo defender, and found the top corner of the Kalamazoo goal.
The Komets took the lead just under four minutes later as Drew Daniels, who was working behind the net with the puck, found Alex Belzile in front of the Kalamazoo crease, whose backhander slid through the pads of Martin.
Controlling the tempo in the late stages of the second period, the Wings would even the game up at 2-2. Lane Scheidl came from behind the Fort Wayne net and fired a turnaround wrister towards the goal, which deflected off the tape of a falling Justin Taylor, and past Nagle.
Capitalizing on a power play opportunity early in the third, the Komets regained their one-goal lead. Mike Embach picked up a loose puck from the goal line, to the right of Martin, and walked into the slot, sliding in a trickling shot from just above the crease.
The Komets earned their largest lead of the night less than four minutes later. Nikita Kashirsky pushed the pace through the neutral zone creating a two-on-one break. Kashirsky saucered a pass to the wheelhouse of Shawn Szydlowski, who drilled one into the open net.
Icing the game late, Garett Thompson found the empty net to give the Komets the 5-2 victory.
With Kalamazoo Wings team release
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