Komet's Reiter and Fury's Pool Dominate Friday Night

[VodkaFish]

ROCHESTER, MI - Fort Wayne’s Kevin Reiter and Muskegon’s Clayton Pool posted shutouts Friday night on home ice, sending Flint and Bloomington home empty handed. Reiter made 15 saves in the 5-0 victory over the Generals while Pool shut the door on all 27 shots he faced from the PrairieThunder in the Fury’s 3-0 win. This was the sixth shut out for Reiter, who has shut out every team, except Bloomington. This was the first shut out of the season for Pool, who joined the Fury back on December 3rd.

The Generals continue to have the top power play record in the IHL. In the 42 games played so far, they are 49 for 246 on the man-advantage, giving them a 19.9% rating. Not far behind is the Komets, who have gone 50 for 254 (19.7%) in the 45 games they have played. Flint has the best power play record at home, going 36 for 138 (26.1%), while Fort Wayne has the best on the road, posting 22 goals in 119 advantages (18.5%).

Port Huron continues to slowly climb the IHL standings ladder. After a 2-0-0-1 record last week, the Icehawks have moved within two points of second place Flint. They picked up five out of six possible points this weekend, giving them a total of 50 points and sole possession of third place, three points ahead of fourth place Muskegon. Port Huron has not lost in regulation in their last five games (4-0-0-1).

AROUND THE “I”

Bloomington PrairieThunder - (2-2-0-0) – Jon Booras has scored the last four goals that the PrairieThunder have scored, including his team high fourth game winning goal on Saturday against Muskegon. Booras has already surpassed the total number of goals he scored last season. He has 17 goals in 43 games this year. He had 16 goals in 73 games last year. Goalie Derek Dolson won two games last week, one in overtime and one in the shoot out, to break a personal five game loosing streak. His victory Monday over Port Huron was his first since December 1st. The PrairieThunder and Muskegon have played six times this year and three times the games have gone in to overtime. Bloomington has won two of those. The PrairieThunder has a 12-4-1-0 record when scoring first, but a 5-20-1-1 record when the opponent scores first.

Flint Generals - (0-2-0-0) – With the two losses over the weekend, the Generals extended their winless streak to four games, the longest of the season for them. It is also the first time all season long that the Generals have dropped three consecutive games on the road. Eric Marvin has the longest active streak of any goaltender in the International Hockey League. He has appeared in the team’s 26 of their last 28 games. Marvin has a record of 12-7-3-3 in those games. The Generals have scored 26 first goals this season which ranks second amongst teams in the IHL, but have won just 14 times when doing so. The Generals have trailed just six times on the road this season after 40 minutes which is the fewest among teams in the IHL. Eight of the team’s nine road wins have come when they have been leading after 40 minutes. Left Wing Josef Fojtik was called up to the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League last Wednesday. He has played three games with the Griffins and has yet to record a point. Defenseman Brett Westgarth continues to play with the Iowa Stars of the AHL, playing 11 games and racking up 30 PIM’s.

Fort Wayne Komets - (3-0-0-0) – The first-place Komets gained six points in week 16, winning all three games played and increasing their margin over second-place Flint to 12 points. The Komets improved to 30-11-3-1 for 64 points and have matched last season's pace of 30 wins at 45 games. The Komets rebounded last week with three straight wins after registering an 0-2 record the week before. The Komets started the week with a 5-2 win at Bloomington Wednesday. Friday the Komets posted their 11th straight home win (current IHL season high) shutting out Flint 5-0. Saturday the Komets posted a 5-2 win at Kalamazoo for their fourth straight win against the Wings. Including games from last year, the Komets are unbeaten at Kalamazoo eight straight. Streaking Komets: Goaltender Nick Boucher has won eight straight starts. P.C. Drouin (LW) is riding a league-high eight-game point and assist streak (2 g, 10 a). Luciano Aquino (3g, 3a), Mathieu Curadeau (2g, 3a) and Colin Chaulk (2g, 4a) each had points in each of the three games played last week. Milestones: Matt Reynolds registered his 100th pro point (assist) in Friday's 5-0 win against Flint. Defenseman Guy Dupuis has skated 698 Fort Wayne career games and could hit 700 Friday, February 8th when the Komets host Port Huron.

Kalamazoo Wings - (1-2-0-0) – Glenn Detulleo is on an eight-game point streak. Kalamazoo will play three of its next four games at home. Kory Karlander leads league in scoring with 58 points (24g, 34a). Kalamazoo is 2-5-0-0 when Nick Bootland or Kory Karlander is held without a point. Jamie Vanderveeken is tied for the league lead among defenseman in power-play goals with five. Kalamazoo leads the league in shootout goals with 14. Kalamazoo is 6-0-0-1 on the road when they lead after the first period. Kalamazoo's 11 power-play chances last Saturday versus Fort Wayne was a season high for the K-Wings. The previous high was 10 earlier also against the Komets. Goaltender Jeremy Symington is tied for second in the IHL in victories with 14. Nick Bootland leads the league in shots on goal with 200.

Muskegon Fury - (1-2-0-0) – With the loss Wednesday, Muskegon fell into a fourth-place tie with Kalamazoo. But with three points over the weekend and a pair of K-Wings losses, the Fury now have a three point cushion with two games in hand on the K-Wings. The Fury trail Port Huron by just three points for third in the IHL, with four games in hand on the Icehawks. Friday, Fury forward Rafal Martynowski scored his 50th career point with an assist on a Robin Bouchard goal Friday in the 3-0 win over Bloomington. Saturday marked the 30th game of the season for Chris Kovalcik, setting a new career high. Billy Collins is just one goal away from setting a new career high. He has 18 on the season, tied for the team lead with Robin Bouchard.

Port Huron Icehawks - (2-0-0-1) – The Icehawks have out shot their opponent in their last eight consecutive games. They continue to lead the league for shots in all three periods, shot percentage (33.86) and total shots (1,583). They are 16-14-0-2 when out shooting their opponent. Left wing Neil Clark made a triumphant return to the Port Huron line-up on Friday and recorded the game winning goal vs. Kalamazoo. The goal was his first of the season. Clark was reassigned to Port Huron last Monday after 14 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League. While with the Griffins, he recorded 14 penalty minutes and posted a plus/minus rating of -3. Center Rich Hansen has averaged a point per game since signing with Port Huron on December 31st. He has 14 points (8-6-14) in just 16 games this season. Rookie Jamie Carroll is currently riding a five game point streak with six points in that span, adding three points in three games last week. Goalie Larry Sterling has posted wins in four consecutive games after he recorded victories on Friday and Saturday over Kalamazoo and Flint. He is ranked third in the league for goals against average with 2.71.

[wutsturm]

That thing is wrong. The Fury were 1-1-1-0 for the week. Saturday night's loss was in overtime.