The Komets' winless streak is now seven games, the longest such drought they've had since joining the ECHL in the summer of 2012.

It could be worse – they managed to make it to overtime in three of these games and salvage points for the standings – but the mood is not a good one around Memorial Coliseum.

“Collectively, everybody needs to dig down deep and get the job done, no excuses,” coach Ben Boudreau said after a 5-4 loss to the Kalamazoo Wings on Sunday in front of 7,688 fans at Memorial Coliseum.

The Komets showed their usual scrappiness, getting goals in the second and third periods from Brett McKenzie, A.J. Jenks and Alan Lyszczarczyk, but they couldn't overcome the damage of a turnover-laden first period that saw them fall behind by two goals.

“It was tough to get a gauge on that game,” Jenks said. “The chances were there, the effort was there and the work ethic was there. It was just a matter of executing and not beating ourselves, not doing the mistakes that are costing us goals at crucial times.”

The Wings, who emerged from the first period with a 3-1 lead, got things started when Justin Kovacs stole the puck from Fort Wayne's Jason Binkley at the blue line and set up Adam Dauda for the first of his two goals.

Zach Diamantoni was wide open to make it 2-0, after Dylan Sadowy circled the Fort Wayne net unfettered. And Justin Taylor netted a power-play goal for the Wings, after Fort Wayne's defenders got too bunched up in the corner and then sent then the puck unwisely to the front of their own net.

Those plays outweighed the bright moments from the period for Fort Wayne: an energy-providing fight by Shawn Szydlowski with Wings captain Ben Wilson; and a beautiful Taylor Ross goal that saw him stick-handle up ice, send the puck to the left of Dauda, skate around the other side, get the puck back and flick it past goaltender Jake Hildebrand.

Hildebrand totaled 31 saves as the Wings (12-14-3) won their fifth straight, including back-to-back games against Fort Wayne (15-11-5).

The Komets played with only five defensemen because Kyle Haas was suspended one game by the ECHL for making an inappropriate gesture toward the bench in the Wings' 3-2 overtime victory Saturday. The Komets were also without Jermaine Loewen, Brady Shaw, Max Gottlieb and Markus Phillips, all of whom are in the American Hockey League, and injured players Shawn St-Amant, Brad Morrison and Will Petschenig.

“Yeah, we're missing a lot of firepower right now. But, collectively, we've got to find a way,” Boudreau said, noting the Wings were without plenty of their top players, too.

“I thought we had the majority of our team going, but a couple of guys, single-handedly, didn't have a good game and the puck wound up in the back of the net and that's the way she goes. Right now, it's about digging down deep, making sure we can look ourselves in the mirror. I thought we had a great effort, but there were mental mistakes that ended up costing us the game.”

Dylan Ferguson stopped 25 shots for the Komets, who remain in third place in the Central Division despite the 0-4-3 slump. It's arguably the Komets' worst run since losing six straight in regulation in 2012-13, though they had a 2-4-8 drought last season.

“We're hoping for some sort of spark come Tuesday night,” said Boudreau, whose team face the Toledo Walleye at 7:30 p.m. in the annual New Year's Eve game at the Coliseum.

jcohn@jg.net