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Power-play goals lead Gems to win

Three man-advantage goals back stellar play of goalie in 5-0 win.

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By David DiCenzo, Contributing Writer Updated 1:21 AM Sunday, February 12, 2012

TROTWOOD — The theme for the evening was Pink in the Rink. But it could have doubled as Parallel Universe Night for a crowd of 3,636 at Hara Arena on Saturday.

Brett Lutes scored a pair of goals, and Larry Sterling posted a 50-save shutout to lift the Dayton Gems to a 5-0 victory over the Fort Wayne Komets on a fundraiser night for local women’s groups during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“Having a big crowd definitely helped and we rose to the occasion,” Lutes said. “Our effort’s been there, but we’ve just been finding ways to lose games. We showed what we’re capable of.”

The win was Dayton’s 16th, and the fashion it came in was most surprising. The Gems’ anemic power play (13th of 14 CHL teams) scored three times and narrowly missed another as Matt Baxter’s breakaway goal came seconds after a Komet left the penalty box. And the usually porous back end (a league-high 169 goals allowed entering Saturday) was air tight, anchored by the superb Sterling, whose shutout was his first this season.

“We wanted to get Larry a shutout, which was much deserved,” coach Brian Gratz said. “He made some huge saves in the second that allowed us to have a big period.”

“We left a little too much up to him,” Lutes added about Sterling’s busy night.

Lutes dribbled one past Gerry Festa on a first-period man advantage before the Gems exploded for four goals in the second. Lutes struck again with a point shot, followed by Baxter. Tim Hartung and Nic Polaski added power-play goals — the latter coming three seconds before intermission — after Fort Wayne’s Brent Henley was ejected for a slash.

The tone was set at the opening faceoff when Robin Richards and the 6-foot-7 Henley dropped the mitts for a lengthy but uneventful tussle. Henley gestured to the crowd, while Richards, who has shown a willingness to fight for the Gems since he arrived a couple of weeks ago, drew cheers when he raised his hand in the air.

With Dayton up 3-0, Richards went to work again, this time against Kaleigh Schrock.

Notes: The win was Dayton’s first against Fort Wayne in five meetings at Hara this season. It also snapped a season-high six-game losing streak. ... Jonathan Ornelas and David Nimmo had two assists, while Baxter also registered a multi-point game with an assist on Polaski’s goal.

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