Komets beat Orlando in shootout, 5-4

ORLANDO, Fla. - LW Nick Petersen struck for two second period goals to help the Solar Bears earn a point in 5-4 shootout loss to the Fort Wayne Komets at the Amway Center on Friday night.

Less than 10 minutes into the game, RW Brandon Marino found RW Thomas Beauregard, who snapped a shot under the pads of G Darcy Kuemper to give Fort Wayne a 1-0 lead. It was the lone goal of the frame, as Kuemper held strong to stop 16 of the 17 shots he faced.

The Komets increased their lead to 2-0 with a goal 5:55 into the middle stanza. Marino stopped behind the net and then quickly slipped out the left side, tucking the puck between the post and Kuemper's skate. Orlando cut the lead in half at 9:05 when Petersen corralled a loose puck and buried a shot off the crossbar for the score. Petersen struck again just over five minutes later, deflecting a shot from D Bryce Lampman and collecting his own rebound to knot the game at 2-2 going into the third.

Orlando took the lead in the third period with a goal at 4:09. A pass found its way from F Rob Mignardi to LW Ryan Ginand who swiftly snapped the puck past G Ken Reiter and into the net. Orlando struck again with a goal by C Ryan Cruthers at 10:00, giving the Solar Bears a 4-2 lead over Fort Wayne. However, the game was forced into overtime when D Ryan Hegarty blasted a shot through traffic and into the net at 10:57 followed by another Fort Wayne goal by Beauregard with only 7.8 seconds remaining in the period.

A scoreless overtime lead to a five round shootout where Beauregard tallied the only goal in the fourth round to secure the 5-4 victory for Fort Wayne. This is the first game of a three game series against Fort Wayne that will continue Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m.