CINCINNATI, Ohio – It took over 95-minutes, but the Fort Wayne Komets prevailed on an Alex Belzile goal in double-overtime to give Fort Wayne a 3-2 win and tie their best-of-seven series with the Cincinnati Cyclones at two games apiece.
Two nights after surrendering four goals, Cincinnati goaltender Brad Thiessen turned in a solid performance, stopping 53 shots in a game that saw Fort Wayne post a shot advantage of 56-31.
The Cyclones jumped out to the early lead on Jack Downing’s second playoff goal at 3:45 of the first period. Andrew Yogan picked up the puck off of a turnover and moved it ahead to Downing, who sniped a shot from the slot and past the glove of Fort Wayne goalie Pat Nagle for the 1-0 lead.
That lead held into the first intermission, despite the Komets leading the shots 11-5.
Christiaan Minella celebrates his 2nd period goal / Photo by Shawn Conkle (PHN)
Things got rougher in the middle period, with the two squads combining for 20 penalty minutes, with the majority of those minutes coming during the scoreless first 18-minutes. Fort Wayne had several chances early in the second, but Thiessen stepped up and took control, denying the Komets.
Cincinnati broke the second period drought, taking a 2-0 lead on Christiaan Minella’s goal from Levko Koper and Nick Huard at 18:02.
Working the puck into the offensive zone on the left wing, Koper sent a pass just over the top of a sprawled out Mason Geertsen and onto Minella’s stick. Minella then promptly deflected the puck past Nagle’s glove and it appeared that Cincinnati would take a 2-0 lead into the locker room.
They did not, however, expect a pair of power play goals by Troy Bourke.
Answering just 1:50 after Minella’s second of the playoffs, Bourke scored his first of the night. With Thiessen scrambling to get back into position following a pair of saves and Fort Wayne rebounds, Jordon Southorn moved the puck from the slot out to Bourke, who sent it into the open net from the bottom of the right circle to make it 2-1 with 8-seconds left. Belzile picked up the assist on the play.
6:43 into the third, Mike Embach sent a pass from near the wall, across the right circle to Bourke, who then flicked the puck past Thiessen from the slot for his second power play goal in a seven-minute span and tying the game at 2-2. Cincinnati would try to
Cincinnati’s Brad Thiessen makes one of his 53 saves on Friday / Photo by Shawn Conkle (PHN)
regain the lead, but would only manage to post one shot in the period, compared to Fort Wayne’s 15 shots, and the game would head to extra frames.
Both teams survived scares in the first overtime period, killing off one two-minute minor each. The Komets continued their dominance in the shot department, leading the Cyclones 13-11 as they headed for the fifth period of play.
15:20 later, Belzile would score, much to the disapproval of the 2,170 fans at U.S. Bank Arena. Belzile picked up the puck near his own blue line, then played a game of give-and-go with Kyle Thomas. Thomas shoveled the puck ahead for Belzile, who found the net from just inside the right circle to give the Komets the 3-2 win.
It will be a short turn around for the two tired teams, as they head back to action on U.S. Bank Arena ice Saturday night at 7:35pm EDT. The series will shift back to Fort Wayne for game six on Monday night. Game seven, if necessary, will be in Fort Wayne on Wednesday. So far in this series, the road team has won each game.
Contact the writer: John.Hall@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer: Shawn.Conkle@prohockeynews.com
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