Two power play goals from forward Jake Smith propelled the Iowa Heartlanders to their fifth straight victory Friday. Iowa downed the Fort Wayne Komets, 4-2, at Xtream Arena.

Smith scored both his goals in the third period Friday. His first came just 50 seconds into the frame and he registered his second with 11:06 left on the game clock.

“He’s there to shoot,” Iowa head coach Gerry Fleming of Smith. “He’s got a great one-timer and we put him over there to shoot. When he gets it in his wheelhouse, he gets a good scoring opportunity.”

Heartlanders forward Ben Sokay also had a night to remember in front of 2,412 fans. Sokay registered a goal with 4:34 on the clock in the first period, extending his streak of contests with a score to four.

Sokay attributed his success to his linemates, Smith and forward Cole Stallard.

“It makes it easy when they’re playing well, too,” Sokay said. “You can use each other, feed off each other. Consistency is key, so we’ve got to keep it going.”

Big picture

The 22-23-6-1 Heartlanders continued their franchise-best winning streak on Friday. With the victory, the club retained possession of sixth place in the ECHL Central Division. Iowa now owns a .490 win percentage.

The Heartlanders’ near-.500 record comes just a few months after they started the season 1-6-1-0.

“There’s a lot going on,” Sokay said. “I think the first half, players coming in, players leaving, switching up the lines a lot with new players and COVID and injuries and everything. So, I feel like we’re at a good place right now. Mostly everyone’s healthy. We’ve got a good line base, everyone’s playing well together. It’s just everything seems to be clicking now.”

Corbin Kaczperski starts

For the first time since Jan. 23, Corbin Kaczperski started at goaltender for the Heartlanders. He was with the American Hockey League’s Syracuse Crunch for most of February after they signed him to a professional tryout contract on Jan. 25.

In his first stint with the Heartlanders, which commenced in late December, he competed in 10 games and recorded a .937 save percentage with a 2.27 goals-against average.

During his opening game in his second stint with the club, Kaczperski snagged 30 saves on 32 shots faced.

“I thought his rebound control was a little bit off in the first,” Fleming said. “But I thought he settled down in the final two periods, made some big saves. His rebound control was a lot better.”

Up next

The Heartlanders look to continue with their winning streak as they face the Komets again at Xtream Arena on Saturday night. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.

Iowa is 3-2-0-0 against Fort Wayne in 2021-22.

“I think they’re going to come out guns-a-blazing here,” Fleming said. “So, we’ve got to come out and be physical, be smart, and stay out of the box.”