Box Score | Game Live

In a battle whose outcome would determine the leader of the Turner Conference, the Fort Wayne Komets (28-13-2, 58 points) defeated the Evansville IceMen (26-13-4, 56 points) by a score of 4-3 at the Ford Center on Wednesday night.

The win moves the Komets two points clear of the IceMen in the fight for first place in the conference and pushes the Fort Wayne record against the Evansville to 7-3-0.

Nick Boucher earned the win and continued to own the IceMen winning for the seventh time in nine starts.  His 28 saves propelled him to an overall record of 25-9-1.

Artem Podshendyalov has also fared well against the IceMen adding to his point total on the season with a goal and two assists.  He now has 15 points (7-9=16) in 10 games against Evansville.

The game was back-and-forth as each team battled to gain the conference lead.

Podshendyalov scored the only goal of the first period but Evansville quickly replied in the second frame with goals from John Ronan and Todd Robinson earning the only lead of the night for the home team.

The second half of the middle frame belonged to the Komets as Brett Smith tied the game and Jamie Milam regained the lead at the 15:23 mark of the second period giving his club a 3-2 lead after two periods.

Evansville would tie the game midway through the third period with Nicklas Lindberg scoring his 12th goal of the season but the Komets would battle their way back into the lead at the 12:31 mark with Chris Auger scoring his 18th goal of the season and he tied the team lead with his fourth game winning goal.

Pier Pelletier made 32 saves but took the loss falling to 8-8-2 on the season.  Pelletier has not won a game since December 11 and is 0-5-1 since.

Colin Chaulk had two helpers joining Podshenyalov, Smith and Auger with multiple-point games.