The days leading up to the playoff opener are usually filled with almost as much time breaking down videotape as running through on-ice drills, but this week won't have the typical preparatory schedule for the Komets. Nor will it, presumably, for the Quad City Mallards.

The Mallards have been Fort Wayne's most frequent opponent – the teams have met 12 times even though they're separated by 306 miles – and that included a home-and-home series that completed the regular season Friday and Saturday.

“Normally, the first week you have off (after the regular season), you do a lot of work and pre-game prep for the team. But we've played them so much, and having just played back-to-back nights, we're already familiar,” Komets forward Kyle Thomas said. “It's going to be about going out there and executing the game plan better than they do.”

The Komets, seeded second in the Central Division, were 45-19-8 in the regular season, winning six of their last seven games and 15 of their last 20. Quad City, the third seed, was 40-28-4 and lost three of its last four games heading into Friday's Game 1 of the best-of-7 series at Memorial Coliseum.

By winning 5-2 Friday at Moline, Illinois, and 6-1 Saturday at the Coliseum, the Komets got 98 points and the fourth best record of the ECHL's 27 teams. If they get past the Mallards, they would have home-ice advantage over everyone except Toledo (106 points) in the second round, and defending champion Allen (104) or Colorado (99) in the third.

But the Komets aren't looking ahead, even if they have an 8-2-2 record against the Mallards this season.

“It's a completely different game come the playoffs. We know that,” Fort Wayne forward Mike Embach said. “You look at the regular-season record and you use that, go off it, take the tendencies and everything like that. But you've got to come out every single game because the season is on the line. We know they're not just going to lie down.”

Here are some things that stick out about the matchup:

•The Mallards' power play ranks next to last with an efficiency of 12.4 percent, while Fort Wayne's penalty kill is 14th at 82.3 percent. The Mallards scored on only 4 of 40 power plays against the Komets, who were 6 for 31.

•When trailing entering the third period, the Komets are dangerous with an impressive 8-12-5 record. The Mallards are 5-21-2 when trailing after two, but when they have a lead at the second intermission they are 23-0-0.

•Quad City's offense ranks a modest 16th with 3.22 goals per game. Fort Wayne's defense ranks sixth, allowing 2.92 per game.

•No team is better at home than Fort Wayne, which is 28-7-1. The Mallards are 20-16-0 on the road.

•Quad City has 20 victories at the iWireless Center, tied for the third fewest among the 16 playoff teams, while the Komets are 17-12-8 on the road.

Notes: Fort Wayne's Mike Cazzola finished fourth in voting for the ECHL's Rookie of the Year award. Toledo's Tyson Spink, who had 33 goals and 75 points, won the award. His brother, Toledo's Tylor Spink, finished second. Wheeling defenseman Kevin Schulze, placed third.

jcohn@jg.net