Pat Nagle has shown he can endure 100 mph slap shots, playing the majority of the Komets’ games and dealing with the pressure of the rabid fans’ expectations.

But he has been tested in other ways this season, too.

Missing 37 consecutive games because of a high ankle sprain, he’s had to be patient, work on physical rehabilitation, support his teammates from afar and, now, he must show he can still be a championship-caliber goaltender while continuing to recover from a notoriously frustrating injury.

"(My ankle) is definitely not 100 percent," said Nagle, who returned to the lineup Feb. 3 to stop 34 of 37 shots in a 4-3 victory over the Rapid City Rush at Memorial Coliseum. "It’s something that I’m just going to have to keep pushing and keep working on. It’s been getting better week by week here, especially once I started getting back on the ice in these past few weeks."

Nagle, in his third season with the Komets (26-14-4), suffered the injury in a 5-0 victory Oct. 28 over the defending champion Allen Americans. A cross-check by Spencer Asuchak caused the netminder to fall backward awkwardly at the Coliseum.

In Nagle’s absence, the Komets were 20-13-4 using goalies Garrett Bartus, P.J. Musico and Keegan Asmundson. Bartus, who stopped 26 of 30 shots in Saturday’s 6-4 victory over the Indy Fuel, remains on the roster heading into today’s 8 p.m. game against the Fuel (14-29-3).

"It was tough being out so long. It’s not ideal to be watching," Nagle said. "Just knowing you can’t be out on the ice or helping your teammates, it’s difficult. So, it was a lot of fun to be back (Feb. 3). It had been a long time coming."

With the Komets, Nagle is 55-19-10 in the regular season and 12-8 in the playoffs. This season, he’s 4-0-0 with a 1.73 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage, after last season going 28-12-8 with a 2.36 GAA, a .915 SP and five shutouts.

"I don’t know if I’d missed maybe more than a game in my career, so this was a learning experience," said Nagle, who helped Florida to the 2012 ECHL playoff championship and has played seven games in the higher-level American Hockey League with Syracuse, Rochester, Grand Rapids and Utica.

Much changed this week with the Komets, who traded forward Brady Vail to Idaho for forwards Travis Ewanyk and Colin Mulvey, got back forward Trevor Cheek from Tucson of the AHL, and released Musico and forward Devin Mantha. They continue to be without forward Shawn Szydlowski, who is with Cleveland of the AHL; defenseman Bobby Shea, who is with Rochester and currently out with a lower-body injury; and defenseman Gabriel Beaupre, out since Nov. 13 with a concussion.

The Komets play Saturday at Cincinnati (21-21-4) and Sunday at Kalamazoo (22-19-4). Nagle knows he has to look long-term, take it easy on his ankle and certainly won’t lobby to play all three games. He’s gotten used to sitting this season anyway.

"You feel (the injury) here and there," he said. "It’s one of those things now where the therapist and trainer, everybody, have done a great job of just getting me back. They want to get me almost to where (my ankle) is uncomfortable so that when I get in a game, I don’t even notice it (bothering me)."

jcohn@jg.net