#3 Missouri Mavericks (39-21-6) vs. #1 Fort Wayne Komets (40-19-7)

Turner Conference Finals (best-of-7)
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 13 – Missouri at Fort Wayne, 8:00 PM
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 14 – Missouri at Fort Wayne, 8:00 PM
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 18 – Fort Wayne at Missouri, 7:05 PM
Game 4 – Thu., Apr. 19 – Fort Wayne at Missouri, 7:05 PM
*Game 5 – Sat., Apr. 21 – Fort Wayne at Missouri, 7:05 PM
*Game 6 –  Tue., Apr. 24 – Missouri at Fort Wayne, 7:30 PM
*Game 7 – Thu., Apr. 26 – Missouri at Fort Wayne, 7:30 PM

*If necessary
**All times local**

Regular Season Series
Missouri (1-1-0); Fort Wayne (1-0-1)

12/29/11 – Missouri 2 at Fort Wayne 4 
01/15/12 – Fort Wayne 3 at Missouri 4 SO

In this regular season series it was the captains and the goaltenders that stood out and contributed to their squad’s success. Missouri’s Sebastian Thinel only had one goal and one assist in the two games played, scoring the game winning shootout goal in their second meeting. Fort Wayne’s Colin Chaulk had three goals and one assist in two games played and also got the game winner during the first meeting.

Both starting goaltenders were in net for their team’s win, and coincidentally, the back-ups were in net during the losses. Each goalie has never lost to the opposing team this season; Missouri’s Charlie Effinger is 1-0-0 with a 2.77 G.A.A. and a .936 SV%. Fort Wayne’s Nick Boucher is also 1-0-0 with a 2.00 G.A.A. and a .933 SV%.

Month-by-Month Record
 
Fort Wayne Komets
October (1-1-0)
November (8-4-0)
December (11-2-1)
January (5-6-1)
February (10-4-1)
March (5-2-4)
Playoffs (4-2)

Missouri Mavericks
October (5-0-0)
November (3-5-2)
December (6-7-1)
January (8-3-1)
February (8-4-1)
March (9-2-1)
Playoffs (4-0)

How They Got Here
The Fort Wayne Komets finished first in the Turner Conference with 87 points, earning the first seed and getting matched-up in the opening round against Rapid City. The series went back and forth, but Fort Wayne managed to come out on top in six games. Nick Boucher started in every game and was solid going 4-2-0 with a 2.67 G.A.A. and a .909 SV%. Also, Captain Colin Chaulk came up huge scoring four points (3g, 1a) and notching two game winning goals.

Missouri finished the season in third place in the Turner with 84 points and found themselves lined up against Evansville in the first round. What was thought to be a tough series for both teams, turned out to be a simple sweep for the Mavericks as they won all four playoff games. Goaltender Charlie Effinger went 4-0-0 (1.43 G.A.A.) this post season and is leading all goaltenders with his .958 SV%. Also, the Mavs have been led offensively by Captain Sebastian Thinel who has recorded seven points (2g, 5a) in four games.

Players to Watch
- Missouri’s Ed McGrane has been coming up huge this post season for his team and has already notched three goals and one assist in four games; McGrane recorded a huge game-winning goal in overtime in Game 3
- The Mavericks will once again need the production from former Komet Tristin Llewellyn who has one goal and three assists (notched game-winner in Game 4)
- Fort Wayne’s Mike Vaskivuo leads the Komets this post season with eight points (3g, 5a) and notched the game winner in Game 3
- Chris Auger has also been offensively producing for the Komets and has eight points (2g, 6a) and leads the league with his six assists
- Vaskivuo and Auger are also riding a 6-game playoff point streak, scoring in each outing thus far

Post-Season Special Teams
- Fort Wayne is in 6th in the league with their 14.3 powerplay percentage, 7th with their 75.0 penalty kill percentage 
- Missouri is 3rd in the league with their 21.4 powerplay percentage, 1st with their 100.0 penalty kill percentage
- Missouri has killed all 8 penalties they have faced this post season
- Fort Wayne has the most power play goals against (7)

Notes
- Scoring first will be very important; in the post season, Fort Wayne is 4-1-0 and Missouri is 3-0-0 after getting the first goal
- Getting shots on net is also a key to this series; both teams are undefeated when outshooting their opponent (Fort Wayne 3-0-0; Missouri 1-0-0)
- Missouri has the highest goal-per-game average at 4.00
- Fort Wayne is close behind in third with 3.17 goals-per-game
- Kaleigh Schrock leads the league with 2 majors already in 6 games, and needs to calm down and stay out of the box
- Captain Colin Chaulk is tied for the league lead with 2 game winning goals
- Nick Boucher leads the league in saves (160) and minutes played (359:42)