Heartlanders return home Sunday vs. Fort Wayne

Coralville, Iowa – The Iowa Heartlanders square off against the division foe Fort Wayne Komets for Iowa’s first home game of the month Sunday at 2:05 p.m. in a game presented by Streb Construction. The Heartlanders are returning from a four-game road trip and are halfway through a stretch where the team plays eight of ten on the road. Tickets are available by calling 319-569-GOAL and visiting iowaheartlanders.com/tickets. View the team's full promotional calendar at iowaheartlanders.com/promotionsIowa received contributions from rookies Michael Pastujov (2a in first pro game) and T.J. Fergus (1st pro goal) in Friday’s 5-2 loss at Indy. Sunday marks Iowa’s first home game since opening weekend, Oct. 21-22 at Idaho.Fort Wayne won its first game of the season in the shootout, 4-3, at Cincinnati Tuesday. The Komets jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second, but the Cyclones revolted with the next three to force an extra session. Stefano Giliati and Drake Rymsha tallied in the shootout and goaltender Ryan Fanti blocked both Cincinnati attempts to win the game.Iowa is next at Kansas City Friday, Nov. 11 and Wichita on Saturday, Nov. 12. The Heartlanders’ next home game is Sun., Nov. 20 at 2:05 p.m. against Kalamazoo for Nickelodeon SpongeBob SquarePants Day, presented by Advance Auto Parts.Broadcast Coverage: Watch on flohockey.tv. Listen on mixlr.com/goheartlanders  Affiliates: Iowa Heartlanders (Minnesota Wild/Iowa Wild) | Fort Wayne Komets (Edmonton Oilers/Bakersfield Condors)Pastujov’s impressive debutRookie Michael Pastujov, acquired Wednesday from Idaho, generated two assists in his first pro game Friday at Indy. On first helper, he dished to Zach White over the line, which led to Iowa’s first goal courtesy of a re-direct at net front from Tommy Parrottino.On Iowa’s second strike, Pastujov did it nearly all himself. After starting from the middle of the ice, he deked over the blue line, swiveled left, then undressed a defender back to the slot and laid a perfect feed across to the right slot for a T.J. Fergus wrister and goal.Pastujov scored 11 goals last season at the University of Michigan and signed with Idaho this summer before being dealt to the Heartland.  Season series outlookThe Heartlanders and Komets play seven times this season and Sunday is the only series game before Jan. 27.The first four games of the series are at Xtream Arena. The last three are all Sunday games played at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. That’s the opposite of last season’s nine-game series; the first four were played in Fort Wayne and Iowa hosted the last five.Iowa is 5-4-0-0 all time against the Komets and 3-2-0-0 in games played at Xtream Arena. Last season’s series was also known for the physicality; the teams fought 14 times in last season’s series, the most by the Heartlanders against any opponent ever. Two of the games featured more than 152 combined PIM and on Feb. 26 the teams registered 168 combined PIM.Scouting the Komets The Komets are under the instruction of fourth-year Head Coach Ben Boudreau and looking to qualify for the playoffs for the eighth straight season. The Komets are in their 11th ECHL campaign and have made the playoffs all but once (2012-13 season, the 2019-20 playoffs were canceled). Boudreau led the Komets to the 2021 Kelly Cup, the team’s first and has five players left from the team’s 2021 championship squad (Anthony Petruzzelli, Blake Siebenaler, Matthew Boudens, Marcus McIvor and Oliver Cooper). Among some of the newer faces this season, forward Tye Felhaber tops the team with seven points (7a) and veteran Stefano Giliati has generated five points (2g) in his first five games.