Fort Wayne doesn't often lose leads, Salt Lake doesn't always play well when it's behind in the last period, and fights rarely start in close games.
There are exceptions.Jonas Bergqvist and Stu Grimson scored to bring the Eagles back into the game at 2-2, and Stephane Matteau scored as the Eagles' first shooter of the second shootout to give Salt Lake a 3-2 Salt Palace win Tuesday in a game that went against the averages.
"It feels good to win a shootout; it's been a long time," said Wayne Cowley, 0-4 in previous shootouts. "Thanks to Leavy," he added.
Defenseman Jim Leavins, playing his first game for Salt Lake after spending the season in Finland, forced the second shootout when he matched Kevin Kerr's goal as the fifth shooters of the first shootout, which ended with each team having scored three times. That brought the "sudden-death" second shootout, in which Cowley stopped Komet Byron Lomow with a glove deflection so Matteau's goal could win the game.
"I haven't had much luck in shootouts," Cowley admitted.
But this was not a normal night.
After a tight first period, Fort Wayne's Brad Aitken made the break the Komets seek. He scored 40 seconds into the second period, bouncing the puck off screening players in front of Cowley.
"We relaxed, and they came at us again right away," said Cowley, who stood handcuffed by Aitken's slow-shot second score just :17 later.
"He was caught in an awkward situation, locked in a position," said Eagle Coach Bob Francis about Cowley.
"A goal like that should never go in," said Cowley.
Once the Komets get ahead, they go into a defensive holding pattern, dumping the puck offensively with four men back and one forechecker. They slow things up, betting they can hold on.
"They played their game plan to a `T'," said Francis. "That can be a frustrating team to play."
"That's the last thing they should have done against us," said Cowley. "I don't think in this league you can `defensive shell' at all, obviously by the shots we had."
The Eagles outshot the Komets 18-6 in the second period, 19-4 in the third.
Bergqvist scored at 8:58 of the second period, and Grimson tied the game at 8:48 of the third when Leavins, Marc Bureau and Matteau made plays to get the puck deep. Bureau threw a blind, back-handed pass across the slot for Grimson to tap in. The assist gave Bureau an 11-game scoring streak. "I wasn't fully expecting it to come across," said Grimson. "I wasn't sure if Marc could see me. It came at a big time. Momentum was shifting our way."
Sims didn't buy that or the shot figure, 52-26. He called quality chances about even. A lot of Eagle shots were long, he said.
Komet goalie Rick Tabaracci "made about 10 phenomenal saves," said Cowley. "It's too bad someone has to lose - but I didn't want to take it."
"They're at home, they're going to force the issue, and they did," said Sims. "We led 2-1 most of the game and were never behind. They're fortunate to get the two points," Sims declared.
Those two points were critical to both clubs because of their proximity in the IHL social register. Fort Wayne, now with 77 points, is third in the IHL East and fourth overall, while the Eagles, with 74, are second in the West but three points out of fourth overall.
Perhaps that's why this one turned ugly. There wasn't a simple holding or hooking penalty all night; every call was high sticking, roughing, slashing nasty stuff that boiled into ejections.
Sims was "disappointed with some of the calls." He wanted Rick Hayward ejected for starting a second fight (his penalty was double roughing; therefore no fighting ejection) and a penalty on Bureau for cutting his player in the face with his stick during a collision. Bureau said he put his hands up to protect his own face on impact.
"Both teams were clutching and grabbing pretty good, and that tends to frustrate individuals," said Francis. "There was some animosity built up, and you can only control that for so long."