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Komet snap Thunder's six-game home winning streakBLOOMINGTON, Nov 22, 2009 (The Pantagraph - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The Bloomington PrairieThunder has taken a deficit into the second-intermission dressing room five times this season. Each time, the Thunder has found it waiting for them at game's end. The Thunder could not break that trend Saturday night in a 3-1 loss to the Fort Wayne Komets in front of 2,624 at U.S. Cellular Coliseum. It snapped the Thunder's six-game home winning streak and drew attention to the fact that Bloomington, which was down 2-1 after the second period, has struggled in catch-up mode. "If that's the stat, then we just can't get behind after two (periods)," Thunder forward Jamie Carroll said. "We have to find a way to avoid that because every point is huge, especially at home." Bloomington, which was playing for the first time in five days, fell to 0-4-0-1 when trailing after two periods. Carroll gave the Thunder a 1-0 lead when he banged home a rebound with 16:08 left in the second period, giving him three goals in the past four games. The lead lasted less than 8 minutes as Fort Wayne's Keith Rodger took advantage of a turnover by Carroll and scored on a wrister to tie it. "I take full responsibility for that one," Carroll said. "That one is all on me." Less than two minutes later, former Thunder Leo Thomas blasted a one-timer past Andrew Martin for a 2-1 lead. It was Thomas' team-leading fifth goal of the season. "There are still a couple of guys over there who I know," Thomas said. "(Rick) Varone gave me a perfect pass, and I had all day to shoot. But it's A battle with these guys --they've got a good team this year." The Thunder outshot Fort Wayne, 36-27, but was unable to convert on several golden opportunities, including Craig Macdonald's 1-on-1 breakaway against Komets goaltender Tim Haun in the first period. "We were all over it -- we just couldn't find the net," Thunder coach Jarrod Skalde said. "For the most part the effort was there, but we did have a few guys who took shifts off here and there, which hurt us." The Thunder pulled Martin in the final minute, and Justin Chwedoruk sent the crowd home early with an empty-net goal that gave the Komets a 3-1 edge with 55.3 seconds left. "I thought it was big for us to get the lead," Fort Wayne coach Al Sims said. "We don't lose too many games when we're leading after two periods." Summary AT U.S. CELLULAR COLISEUM Fort Wayne 0 2 1 -- 3 Bloomington 0 1 0 -- 1 First period -- No scoring. Second period -- Bloomington, Carroll (Bagron, Finnerty), 3:52; Fort Wayne, Rodger (Chwedoruk), 8:22; Fort Wayne, Thomas (Varone, Klempa), 9:48 (pp). Third period -- Fort Wayne, Chwedoruk (O'Connor, Chaulk), 19:04 (en). Shots on goal -- Fort Wayne 9-14-4-27; Bloomington 13-12-11-36. Penalties-minutes -- Fort Wayne 5-23; Bloomington 6-13. Goalies -- Fort Wayne -- Haun (36 shots, 35 saves, 60:00); Bloomington -- Martin (26 shots, 24 saves, 59:35). Power play opportunities -- Fort Wayne 1 of 4; Bloomington 0 of 4. Attendance -- 2,624 Referee -- Thackaberry; Linesmen -- Morgan, Stagnone. To see more of The Pantagraph, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pantagraph.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |