Four first-period goals helps K-Wings beat Komets

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FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Exploding for a season-high tying four goals in a single period in the opening 20 minutes, the Kalamazoo Wings (20-20-4-1) cruised to a 5-1 victory Friday night over the Fort Wayne Komets (24-20-1-1) at Allen County Memorial Coliseum.

Kalamazoo jumped ahead 7:15 into the first period, when Elgin Reid (6 ^th) utilized a screen in front of the Komets net to record his sixth-goal of the season.  

Smothering the Komets in the late stages of the period, the K-Wings would ring up three goals in a span of 2:59.  Waiting in the right spot, Aaron Clarke notched his 15 ^th goal of the season, when he found a loose puck that rolled off the tape of Brett Lysak at the 15:46 mark of the period.

Just over a minute later, Kalamazoo extended their lead to 3-0 with a blue line wrister from Yann Sauve (2 ^nd).  Following the goal from Sauve, Fort Wayne pulled goaltender Marco Cousineau, who left the game making four saves on seven shots in 16:50.

After Cousineau left, things didn’t get easier for his replacement Charlie Effinger (18 saves) as the netminder surrendered a lamp-lighter to Alexandre Grenier (1 ^st) to cap off the trio of goals of the K-Wings. Assisting on the goal for Kalamazoo was John Armstrong, who extended his point streak to five games with the helper.

Setup by a big check by Armstrong (7 ^th) in the Komets zone, the forward would finish the play with a give-and-go marker to pushed the K-Wings lead to 5-0 6:36 into the second period. Grenier, who finished the game with a team-high three points (1 goal, 2 assists) earned an assist on the tally.

Fort Wayne broke up Joel Martin’s (35 saves) shutout bid midway in the period with a goal from Thomas Beauregard. Beauregard, who leads the Komets with 17 goals, has netted nine of those tallies in nine games against Kalamazoo.