Goaltender Charlie Effinger did his part -- he stopped 36 of 38 shots -- but he didn't get enough offensive help and the Komets lost 2-1 to the Colorado Eagles before 5,289 fans at the Budweiser Events Center on Wednesday.
It was the first meeting between the Komets and Eagles since 2011, when they were both in the CHL.
A turnover by Fort Wayne defenseman Ryan Hegarty set up Colorado's Joey Sides for the first goal of the game, 14:30 into the first period.
The Komets answered at 4:58 of the second period. John Dunbar skated with the puck behind the Colorado net and zipped a pass to Thomas Beauregard, who one-timed it into the bottom of the net.
But the Eagles' Isaac Smeltzer regained the lead for his team by scoring on a wraparound at 16:23 of the second period.
This was the first of three straight games between the teams; they play Friday and Saturday in Loveland.
Both teams had five power plays. Neither scored a power-play goal.
Adam Brown stopped 23 of 24 shots for Colorado.
Notes: Defenseman Brent Henley was back in the Fort Wayne lineup, after returning from Lake Erie of the American Hockey League. He was scoreless Wednesday. ... Recently re-signed defenseman Jamie Milam hasn't yet joined the Komets and may not until next week. He's still in Poland, where he had been playing.
