General manager David Franke said the Komets “are trying to set a tone” with their first two player signings for next season, forward Matt Firman and defenseman Mathieu Gagnon.The Komets heavily outshot the Dayton Gems, controlled most of the play, yet somehow wound up with a 4-2 loss at Memorial Coliseum on Friday night.
“We have what? Forty-two shots? So many scoring chances,” said Komets defenseman Frankie DeAngelis, who scored along with defenseman Jamie Milam.
“It’s a tough one because we were flying out there, playing good. We just made one or two mistakes on these guys. They’ve got some good snipers and put it in the back of the net. We’ve got to start pouncing more on their opportunities.”
The Komets tallied the first nine shots and 14 of the first 18.
“Everybody thought we should have had a goal or two there,” Fort Wayne coach Al Sims said. “But (goaltender) Bryan Hogan wasn’t giving us anything. Even the ones he missed were going through his legs and wide of the post. He doesn’t even see them, and he’s stopping them. It was just his night tonight. He played really well and there’s nothing you can say about it.”
Dayton defenseman Tim Hartung opened the scoring on a power play that angered the 7,263 fans. He scored 21 seconds after the Komets’ Tom Mele was called for tripping at the blue line on what appeared to be a hip check.
After DeAngelis’ goal at 4:02 of the second period, forward Matt Larke answered with a wrist shot from between the circles 1:57 later. Gems forward Brett Lutes scored at the end of a 2-on-1 rush for a 3-1 lead at 15:59 of the second period.
The Komets made it interesting with Milam’s goal from 50 feet out at 17:54 of the third period. But Fort Wayne’s Stephen Thorne got a tripping call at 18:11, and forward Damien Surma scored on the power play to seal the win.
“The shots (42-22) are indicative of what happened in the game,” Sims said. “Hogan stole the game for them. We had (a season-high) 23 shots in the first period, and those were quality chances. We weren’t shooting from the outside. It’s just one of those games. We’re struggling a little bit to score at home, and it continued tonight. But it’s nothing to get down about. The guys played right up to the last whistle.”
The Komets (5-5-0) are 2-3 at the Coliseum, where they’ve been outscored 17-11. On the road, they’re 3-2 and have outscored opponents 23-14.
The Komets finish their set of three games in as many nights against the visiting Quad City Mallards (2-6-2) at 7:30 p.m. today.
Notes: The Komets played without forwards Leo Thomas, who has strep throat, and Jesse Bennefield, who will miss at least a month after ankle surgery Thursday. … The Gems (4-4-3) were without former Fort Wayne player Brandon Naurato, who may have suffered a concussion when he was hit from behind by Bloomington’s Aaron Dawson on Thursday.
