Defenseman nets Evansville’s game-winning goal over Fort Wayne with one minute left in OT
Records:Â Â Evansville: 17-22-4-1; Fort Wayne: 27-14-3-0
Goalies:  FW – Nagle (OTL), 20-8-3-0, 29 saves
              EVN – Greenham (W), 5-3-1-0, 41 saves
Scoring:
1st Period: 1. EVN – Rumble 8 (Leveille, Hobbs, 14:16)
2nd Period: 2. EVN – Hobbs 7 (Sims, Fawcett, 4:18); 3. FW – Embach 22 (PP, Szydlowski, Perlini, 11:08); 4. FW – Cheek 9 (Bourke, Belzile, 15:10)
3rd Period: No Scoring
Overtime: 5. EVN – Rutkowski 4 (Fawcett, Moon, 4:00)
EVANSVILLE, IN – The Evansville IceMen have turned into the cardiac kids the last two games at the Ford Center. Tuesday, the IceMen knocked off the Midwest Division-leading Fort Wayne Komets 3-2 thanks to a dramatic overtime goal from defenseman Troy Rutkowski. The win follows a thrilling 2-1 shootout victory Saturday over Rapid City.
The Komets outshot Evansville 17-10 in the opening period, but Chris Rumble scored the game’s first goal for the IceMen with a backhander from the point that made it through traffic and past Fort Wayne goalie Pat Nagle late in the frame. Evansville goalie Scott Greenham stopped all 17 Komets shots.
After killing off the first of three Fort Wayne power plays, Danny Hobbs extended Evansville’s lead to 2-0, when he snapped a shot into the top corner 4:18 into the second period. The Komets scored on their second man advantage of the period when Mike Embach corralled a bouncing puck in the slot and fired a shot past Greenham.
Trevor Cheek tied the game for Fort Wayne in the final five minutes of the frame, when Alex Belzile won an offensive zone face-off and Cheek ripped a quick shot over Greenham’s glove.
There were 26 combined shots in the third period, but Greenham and Nagle were up to the task as game headed to 3-on-3 overtime. In the extra period, Troy Rutkowski broke free in front of the Komets net and buried the game-winning goal over Nagle’s glove with one minute left to send the IceMen to their second straight victory. Greenham stopped 41 shots in his fifth win of the season, while Nagle saved 29 in the loss.
The IceMen finish off the week with three games in three days Friday through Sunday. First, Evansville hosts the Kalamazoo Wings at 7:15pm Friday at the Ford Center. The first 1,000 kids under 12 will receive IceMen backpacks, courtesy of Old National Bank.
The IceMen then travel to Cincinnati Saturday for a 7:35pm EST face-off against the Cyclones. Evansville wraps up the weekend on Valentine’s Day Sunday, when the Cyclones come to the Ford Center at 6:15pm.
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