Coach Al Sims and captain Colin Chaulk retired, and now so has the goaltender who backstopped them to four championships between 2008 and 2012.
The Komets put on a solid third-period charge to force an overtime shootout and get a point in the standings Sunday, but they still lost to the Flint Generals 5-4 at Perani Arena.
The Komets scored three unanswered goals from David Hukalo, Guy Dupuis and Sean O’Connor in the third period, but they failed to score in the shootout.
The only goal of the shootout was scored by Flint’s Matt Moffat, keeping the Generals (27-31-7) seven points back of Bloomington for the fourth and final playoff spot in the IHL.
The second-place Komets (42-20-4) within seven points of Muskegon, though Fort Wayne has played one fewer game than the Lumberjacks.
The Komets have 10 games remaining in the regular season to try and win their third straight IHL regular-season championship.
Goaltender Nick Boucher stopped 21 of 25 shots in regulation and 2 of 3 in the shootout. Flint’s Sergei Zvyagin stopped 47 of 51 shots in regulation and all three in the shootout.
Fort Wayne was 2 for 7 on the power play. Flint was 0 for 3, in front of 2,410 fans.
The Komets play host to last-place Dayton at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
