'Blades drop back-and-forth affair to Komets

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Cam Johnson made a career-high 36 saves and the Florida Everblades scored the first two goals of the game, but the Fort Wayne Komets tallied four unanswered goals in a 4-2 win on Friday night at Memorial Coliseum.

BOX SCORE

Defensemen Patrick McCarron and Michael Downing both scored their first goals of the season, but Florida (4-3-0-0, 8 pts.) couldn’t solve Fort Wayne goaltender Dylan Ferguson over the final 36 minutes, six seconds in the middle game of a three-game week.

Florida struck first for the first time this season on a great zone rush near the halfway point of the first period. Zach Magwood raced into the zone down the right-wing wall and dropped the puck with Michael Huntebrinker. Huntebrinker immediately zipped a pass to a wide-open Michael Downing in the left circle, and he snapped a shot through the five-hole of Ferguson.

The ‘Blades extended their lead to two shortly after their first power play of the night expired in the first five minutes of the second period. Following a net-mouth scramble, John McCarron picked up the loose puck and fed Logan Roe at the right point. Roe faked a blast and then slid it to the top of the left circle for Patrick McCarron who hammered a one-timer over Ferguson.

Fort Wayne (4-2-1, 9 pts.) tallied twice in the second half of the middle frame to even the game at two. Brady Shaw converted on a rebound in front of Johnson to get Fort Wayne on the board at 9:06 of the second. AJ Jenks then evened the score by redirecting Brayden Pachal’s shot from the right-wing wall past Johnson with 2:08 left in period two.

Taylor Ross put Fort Wayne ahead for good with less than six minutes to play in the third period. After Brady Shaw’s shot clanged off the glass behind Johnson, Ross tracked down the carom at the side of the goal and banked it in to give Fort Wayne a 3-2 lead. Mason Bergh scored on an empty net in the final minute to seal the Komets' win.

Florida now travels to Toledo, Ohio, to face the Walleye on Saturday night in the final game of the week. Faceoff is set for 7:15 p.m. ET at the Huntington Center.  

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