KALAMAZOO, MI— Beginning the home portion of their schedule Friday night at Wings Event Center, the Kalamazoo Wings and Fort Wayne Komets played a high-paced, highly-contested tilt that saw the visiting Komets escape with a 2-1 victory.
The Komets carried much of the play through the first portion of the opening period, and were rewarded in the closing minutes with the game’s first strike. CodySol loaded a slap shot from the blue line that caromed off the pad of Joel Martin, and directly onto the tape of David Friedmann, who buried his first of the season, making it 1-0 after one.
The K-Wings recoiled at the break and came out of the dressing room with sustained pressure and an offensive burst. Despite their best efforts—including a post-ringing slap shot from Adam Comrie—Kalamazoo couldn’t best Fort Wayne’sPat Nagle during the middle period.
Pushing the play and making Komets’ netminder Pat Nagle uncomfortable in his crease, Kalamazoo continued to step on the gas in the third frame. Nagle stood up to the test and his team extended their lead to 2-0, midway through the period. Curtis Leonard fired a shot that trickled off the body of a Wings’ defender and to the stick of Kyle Thomas. With an open goal, Thomas chopped the puck over the line and built upon Fort Wayne’s edge.
Proving they were unfazed by the deficit, Justin Taylor slung a faceoff back to the line, where Charlie Vasaturo hauled it in, and quickly released a wrist shot that wove through traffic and over the glove of Nagle.
Trailing by a goal and with Martin on the bench in favor of an extra attacker, Kalamazoo created a series of chances around the goal, but none were capitalized, as Fort Wayne swiped the two points on the road.
With Kalamazoo Wings release
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