Komets prep for Toledo

COURTESY: FORT WAYNE KOMETS

Fort Wayne, IN - The Komets are looking ahead to the three games scheduled this week.  The week begins with a home stand against division rival Toledo Wednesday before the Komets bus to North Charleston, South Carolina to face the Stingrays in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday.

The Komets have some ground to gain in the race for the playoffs after posting a 1-2-0 record last week and falling to 27-28-2.  The top eight teams in the ECHL's Eastern Conference qualify for post-season play and the Komets trail eighth-place Elmira by eight points with 15 games remaining.

About last week--The Komets dropped a 3-1 home decision to Cincinnati Friday before ending their season high six-game winless streak and four-game road winless streak Saturday with a 3-1 win at Toledo. Sunday the Komets suffered their third shutout loss of the season 1-0 at home to Wheeling. 

Completed series--Friday's match against Cincinnati was the last meeting of season with the Cyclones.  Cincinnati took the series 5-4-0.  The Komets also conclude their season series against Wheeling Sunday and finished with a 0-1-1 record in two meetings against the Nailers.

Milestones--Brandon Marino (RW) reached 60 points for the second straight season with an assist on Fort Wayne's lone goal Friday night against Cincinnati.  Colin Chaulk (C) has 999 career points (regular season).  Matt Syroczynski reached 99 career Fort Wayne points with a goal and an assist Saturday at Toledo.  Jamie Milam (D) has skated 398 pro games (regular season).  Netminder Jeff Deslauriers earned his first Komet win Saturday at Toledo stopping 28 of 29 shots. 

By the numbers-- Saturday the Komets defeated Toledo 3-1 and are now 22-4-0 when reaching three goals in a game and 16-2-1 when taking the lead into the third period.  Wheeling's game winning power play goal Sunday was the first time the Komets surrendered a power play goal in four games and it came after 18 successful penalty kills. 

Looking ahead--15 games and five weeks remain on the 2012-13 docket for the K's.  The Komets face all Eastern Conference rivals down the stretch with seven games against North Division opponents, five games against the South and three games against Atlantic Division foes.  The Komets are 19-20-1 against the North, 6-3-0 when playing South Division opponents and 1-3-1 when facing Atlantic Division teams.  Overall the Komets have posted an even record of 26-26-2 when facing Eastern Conference teams.

Leaders of the Pack--Marino 61 points, 42 assists, +7.....Marino and Thomas Beauregard with 19 goals each....Kaleigh Schrock with 151 penalty minutes.

Leaders of the Month--During the month of February, which has one game remaining Wednesday when the Komets host Toledo, Marino leads the K's with five goals and 11 points after appearing in all 12 games played to date.  Marino is tied with Eric Giosa (C) with six assists.  Giosa leads for the month with +5 and also has skated all 12 games.

Hot Komet of the Week--The Komets' NHL affiliate, the Anaheim Ducks, assigned goaltender Jeff Deslauriers to Fort Wayne prior to last week's games.  Deslauriers (1-2-0) allowed only four goals for a a 1.35 goals-against average and stopped 84 of 88 shots for a .955 save percentage after his first three appearances with the Komets.

Iron Man--Tyler Butler (D) has skated all 57 Komet games to date.  The veteran, skating his 10^th pro season, also appeared in all 66 regular season games for Arizona (CHL) last season.

KOMETS ON ICE THIS WEEK--
Wednesday, Feb. 27 Toledo Walleye (30-19-7, 67 points) at Komets, 7:30pm ET--The Komets will meet the Walleye for the 10^th of 11 times this season when Toledo visits for a 7:30pm faceoff at Memorial Coliseum Wednesday night.  The Komets are 0-5-0 in the past five Toledo visits but were 3-1-0 in four trips to Toledo this year after a 3-1 Komet victory at Toledo last Saturday night in the last meeting.  After Wednesday, Toledo will finish the season series with one more trip to Fort Wayne March 27.  The Walleye have their sights set on Division leader Cincinnati who holds a seven point edge over Toledo in the race for first place in the North.  After suffering a 3-1 loss to the Komets Saturday the Walleye dropped a 2-1 overtime loss to Cincinnati at Toledo Sunday and are 2-1-3 in their last six games.

Friday, March 1, Komets at South Carolina, 7:05pm ET
Saturday, March 2, Komets at South Carolina, 7:05pm ET--The Komets kick off the month of March with a pair of back-to-back games at North Charleston Arena (6,712) in North Charleston, South Carolina this Friday and Saturday.  It'll be the only two meetings of the season and two of six road games for the month to close out the season.  The Stingrays are in a tight race for playoff position in the Eastern Conference.  South Carolina is among six teams that are within a five-point span of each other.  South Carolina is on a 7-1-1 tear over their past nine games but finished last week with a 3-2 loss at Greenville Sunday.  The Stingrays host Gwinnett Tuesday before hosting the double-header against the Komets Friday and Saturday.

Speaking of March--The Komets will skate eight home games during March, the most of any month this season.  Florida makes their debut in Fort Wayne Friday and Saturday March 8 and 9.  Evansville visits Wednesday, March 13 and will be in town for St. Patrick's day March 17.  Greenville makes it's only appearance of the season for the only meeting of the year with the Komets Saturday, March 16.  Eastern Conference leader Reading skates on Coliseum ice Wednesday, March 20.  Toledo returns Wednesday, March 27 and Kalamazoo visits for the season finale Saturday, March 30.