Thunder Season Ends With OT Loss To Fort Wayne

FORT WAYNE, IN (June 14) – Matthew Boudens scored 1:25 into overtime to give Fort Wayne a 4-3 win over Wichita in Game 5 on Monday night at Memorial Coliseum. 

Matteo Gennaro, Bobby McMann and Jay Dickman provided the offense while Alex Peters had two assists. 

Fort Wayne got on the board first just 2:12 into the game. Oliver Cooper skated behind the net and went for a wrap-around attempt. Evan Buitenhuis had his stick get caught in the traffic and Cooper beat him through the five hole to make it 1-0. McMann tied the game at 11:06 as he put home a rebound for his first of the postseason.

In the second, Mathieu Brodeur gave Fort Wayne a 2-1 advantage at 7:24. The Komets won a faceoff and he fired a shot through traffic for his first of the series.

Just 25 seconds later, Gennaro tied the game with his fourth of the postseason. He stole a puck near the Fort Wayne net and popped a shot through Dylan Ferguson to make it 2-2.

The Komets regained the lead at 19:15 after Anthony Nellis scored a controversial goal for his third of the playoffs. He took the puck around the edge of the left circle, cut to the net and beat Buitenhuis as he ran him over in the crease. The goal was allowed to stand and no penalty was called on Nellis. 

Wichita tied the game again as Dickman registered his first of the series at 9:53 of the third. He caught a long outlet pass from Peters, took a shot and put home his own rebound to make it 3-3.

The Komets appeared to take a 4-3 lead at 9:09 as Brodeur took a shot from the left point that beat Buitenhuis. The officials looked over the replay and determined that Nellis caught the left leg of Buitenhuis and the goal was disallowed. 

Fort Wayne had one last opportunity at the end of regulation as Mathieu Gagnon was called for a cross check on Brandon Hawkins. The penalty carried over into overtime as the Thunder got through the first 1:07 of the man advantage. 

In overtime, Wichita was able to kill off the final 53 seconds of the power play and Gagnon came back on the ice. At 1:25, Boudens beat a Thunder defenseman in front of the crease and put home a backhand to give the Komets a 4-3 win. 

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