Without question, the Saturday-night Delta Center crowd of 10,398 showed up for Bikini Night. Most likely, those folks went home realizing they'd gotten a bonus: One whale of a hockey game between Fort Wayne and the Eagles.
Those two teams meet again Monday night in Big DC.In a tightly played, end-to-end contest with no fights but lots of knockdowns, the difference was, finally, some bumps and grinds by the line of David Struch (two goals), Todd Gillingham and Kerry Clark and the continued finesse of the Rich Chernomaz-Sandy McCarthy-Patrick Lebeau line.
Lebeau scored three goals, his second hat trick of the season, and the Eagles won 5-2, thanks to Lebeau's empty-netter in the final second of the game.
The Komets, the leaders in the Central Division of the IHL but losers of their last two games - one of them the night before in Fort Wayne - came in like they'd had a week off and a 10-game win streak. They flew to the puck on defense, particularly when penalty killing, and they refused to play the usual dump-and-chase road game. They picked off Eagle passes through the slot and still pressured the perimeter.
The Komets had killed 22 straight power plays coming into the game and killed the Eagles' first three Saturday before Lebeau scored his second goal of the night, rebounding a tip by Shawn Heaphy just inches away from the right goalpost and paying the price as he was knocked flying to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead at 18:29 of the second period.
"I was surprised," Lebeau said of his second goal, which he flicked out from under the glove of Komet goalie Dave Gagnon. "When I fell down, I didn't know if the referee would allow it."
Eagle coach Bob Francis figured a check thrown by Gillingham halfway through the first period bought the Eagles some chances, and from there, they gradually built a lead.
"That's what's going to win games for us. There are a lot of talented players, but everyone has to work hard," said Struch, whose goals both came in the third period.
The Eagles matched the Komets in hustle and penalty killing, leaving the IHL's No. 2 scoring team out in the cold while killing three penalties. Francis singled out the penalty killing of Todd Brost, calling him the best in the league. "He does a lot of thankless jobs and doesn't say boo about his role," Francis said.