The Fort Wayne Komets came close to giving away a three-goal lead to Rapid City, but did just enough to escape with a 5-3 victory.

Fort Wayne led by three goals at one point and ended with the victory. The largest advantage in the game came when the Komets' Chris Auger's scored at 12:24 in the first period to put Fort Wayne up 3-0.

After the loss made the series score 3-1 in the best of seven series, Rapid City faces elimination next time out.

In the losing effort, Rapid City was led by Jeff Kyrzakos, who registered two goals. Kyrzakos scored the first of his two goals at 19:01 into the first period to make the score 3-1 Fort Wayne. Shawn Limpright assisted on the tally. Kyrzakos' next tally made the score 4-3 Fort Wayne with 6:39 left in the third period. A tripping penalty on Colin Chaulk had put Rapid City on the power play. Jesse Schultz provided the assist.

The Komets were sparked by Kaleigh Schrock, who finished with one goal. Schrock scored 12:06 into the third period to make the score 4-2 Fort Wayne.

Fort Wayne forced Rapid City's goalies to work hard to keep the puck out of the net, finishing with 33 shots and forcing 28 saves. Kevin Beech made 19 stops and Tim Boron made nine.

Fort Wayne additionally got points from Mike Vaskivuo, who also grabbed one goal and one assist and Auger, who also had one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. Bobby Chaumont also scored for Fort Wayne. More assists for Fort Wayne came via Jamie Lovell, who had two and Tom Mele, Frankie DeAngelis, and Jean-Michel Rizk, who each chipped in one.

Rapid City's defensemen bolstered Rapid City's offensive attack, as they bombarded Nick Boucher with 14 shots.

Rapid City also got points from Schultz, who also finished with one goal and one assist. Other players who recorded assists for Rapid City were Riley Weselowski and Dave Grimson, who contributed two a piece.

Boucher rejected 27 shots on goal for the Komets. Fort Wayne totaled 25 minutes in penalty time with 10 minors and one major and went 1-for-6 on the power play. Rapid City totaled 27 minutes in penalty time with 11 minors and one major and went 2-for-6 on the power play.