The Iowa Heartlanders dropped the first game of a three-game set against the Fort Wayne Komets by a 4-0 score at Xtream Arena Wednesday. 

The Komets are the team that knocked out the Heartlanders in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs last season and got the better of Iowa again on this night. Despite that, head coach Chuck Weber says that it did not come up much in the locker room. 

“Some of the guys who were here last year definitely have a sour taste in their mouth from how last season ended,” Weber said. “But this is a new season and a new team.” 

The game started out evenly, with both teams trading possessions all throughout the first period. It wasn’t until 17:40 into the first period where Josh Groll of the Komets scored on a rebound in front of the net. 

The second period started out just like the first, with little dominance from either squad. Groll scored his second goal of the night 13:14 into the period in the same fashion that he scored his first one – off the rebound. 

The Landers were awarded their first power play of the night 16:48 minutes into the second period, but were unable to cash in on the opportunity despite earning several scoring chances.

“We were saying in the locker room that we wish there were a couple more minutes at the end of the second because we felt like we were right there,” alternate captain Jonny Sorenson said. 

The Heartlanders went into the third period down 2-0, but were still unable to find the back of the net after three power plays in the frame. 

Iowa goaltender Riley Mercer, who had been solid all night despite two rebound goals, was pulled with 17:40 left in the period. As soon as Mercer got to the bench, the Heartlanders lost possession and James Stefan of the Komets scored on the empty net, making the score 3-0 in favor of Fort Wayne. 

Mercer stayed on the bench for the remainder of the third period and Matt Murphy of the Komets decided to add insult to injury and score another empty netter at 19:46 to end the game at 4-0. 

“They had two scrum goals, we did not do a good enough job getting to the hard areas and then you gave up two empty netters,” Weber said. “It’s a 2-0 hockey game but it looks worse with the empty netters and as a coach that was disappointing to see.”

For Weber, the message is simple – you can’t win hockey games if you don’t score a goal. 

“I think we got a reality check that maybe we’re not quite as good as we think we are,” Weber said. “We need to bring a work ethic and intensity to our games to allow us to have success.” 

If there is one thing that Weber has instilled into his players, it’s that the season is a marathon, a mentality Sorensen has embraced. 

“We just need to remember this is game 6 of 72,” Sorenson said. “It is easy to get frustrated after a loss like this but we got 66 games left and can’t dwell on one game.” 

Up Next

Iowa will host Fort Wayne again on Friday on Saturday before traveling to Cincinnati to face Weber’s old team – the Cincinnati Cyclones – on Nov. 7.