FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Anthony Nellis scored twice, highlighting a four-goal first period for the Fort Wayne Komets as they claimed a 4-3 win in game three of the ECHL Western Conference Finals in front of 3,919 fans at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum on Monday night to give them a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five Kelly Cup Playoff series.
The Americans got on the board first, scoring 1:17 into the game on a Les Lancaster goal from Ben Carroll and Scott Conway. The lead wouldn;t last long, though, as the home team would tie just over three minutes later on a power play goal by Justin Vaive from Stephen Harper and Nellis.
The two squads remained deadlocked for the next eight minutes before Nellis took over. The forward scored his fourth and fifth goals of the post-season just a minute and a half apart to break open a two-goal lead mid-way through the period.
At 12:36 Nellis took a pass from Shawn Szydlowski and wristed a shot past netminder C.J. Motte from the inside of the left circle to make it 2-1. Alan Lyszczarczyk was credited with the secondary assist on the play.
At 14:10 Nellis jumped on a rebound in the slot and found the net from the backhand with assists going to Lyszczarczyk and Szydlowski. Four-minutes later Lyszczarczyk slapped home the eventual game-winning goal from the right circle on a pass from Nellis off a draw to make it 4-1.
The Americans slowly chipped away at the deficit, scoring one goal each in the final two periods.
Tyler Sheehy jumped on a Komets turnover just inside the zone, then tucked the puck inside the left post on a give-and-go with Collin Shirley at 11:35 of the second to make it 4-2. The score would remain the same as Allen held a slight lead in shots (17-16) entering the final frame.
Lancaster scored his second of the night and third of the playoffs 2:43 into the third on assists from Matt Register and Spencer Asuchak. Lancaster’s power play goal came from the high slot to pull the Americans within one goal with plenty of time remaining, but they would not be able to find the equalizer.
The Americans and Komets return to the ice in Fort Wayne on Tuesday night at 6:30 pm Central. A win for the Americans will extend the series to a deciding game five on Wednesday night, while a Fort Wayne win will puch a ticket to the Kelly Cup Finals for the Komets. The winner of this series will face the Eastern Conference Champion South Carolina Stingrays. The Stingrays closed out the Greenville Swamp Rabbits with a 2-1 Eastern Conference Finals-clinching win on Monday night.
Contact the writer: John.Hall@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.