Adversity can often bring out the best in a team.
Prior to Sunday, the Fort Wayne Komets trailed 3-2 in their best-of-seven Central division Semifinals series against the Iowa Heartlanders. They needed a win to force a Game 7, and they got it with a 6-1 victory in Fort Wayne.
Alex Aleardi scored his fourth goal of the series late in the first period to put the Komets up 1-0 at 14:27. Darren Brady and Kyle Mayhew each earned an assist.
Later in the frame, with Blake Murray in the penalty box for holding, Nolan Volcan stripped the puck and came in on a breakaway to score Fort Wayne’s second shorthanded goal of the series at 18:04 to increase the lead to 2-0.
The Komets made the score 3-0 in the second period after Jack Gorniak netted his second goal of the series at 8:23, with assists from Tyler Inamoto and Harrison Rees.
Jonny Sorenson scored Iowa’s only goal with a net-front tap-in at 10:22 of the second to narrow the Heartlanders’ deficit to 3-1. Keltie Jeri-Leon picked up the helper.
The Komets snuffed out any hopes of an Iowa comeback. They kept up the pressure on Iowa starting goaltender William Rousseau with two more goals, chasing him from the game after Ethan Keppen and Zach Jordan added to the Komets lead.
With the score 5-1 Komets in the third, Brannon McManus tallied his first of the series on a power-play to complete the 6-1 victory.
As often happens in a game that’s no longer in doubt, things got chippy between the two teams late in the third period. Two separate fights broke out with each team being assessed penalties. The Heartlanders had the man advantage but could not capitalize, going 0-for-4 on the power play for the game.
Nathan Day picked up the crucial win for the Komets, making 18 saves. Rousseau stopped 22 of 27 shots in the loss, while Kyle McClellan made eight saves after taking over in the second period.
The Komets were also dealing with the loss of forward Odeen Tufto, who suffered a broken left leg during a scrum late in the third period of Game 5 in Coralville. Tufto underwent successful surgery on Saturday and was placed on reserves.
That, along with the urgency of needing to win out, propelled the Komets to set the tone early in Game 6. Now, they have a chance to take the series in Game 7 Tuesday night on home ice. Puck drop is set for 7:30 Pm ET.