COMETS COMEBACK FALLS SHORT FRIDAY NIGHT
Dec 2, 2022Utica- N.Y.— The Comets took to the ice against the North Division’s Toronto Marlies on Friday night at the Adirondack Bank Center in front of a jammed packed crowd. The home team tried to avenge their previous loss at home against Toronto from the end of October. When the dust settled, the Comets came close but couldn’t fully close the gap as they were defeated by a 4-3 score in regulation.
In the first period, it was Nick Hutchison who started the scoring as he capitalized on a giveaway by Toronto. Hutchison, who stood all alone in front of Marlies goalie Joseph Woll, flipped the puck glove side an in at 8:00. The unassisted goal put Utica up, 1-0. O one shift later the Marlies answered, and it was a seeing-eye shot from the point by Noel Hoefenmayer at 8:26 which sailed by a screened Nico Daws tying the game at 1-1. Later, another goal by Hoefenmayer gave Toronto the lead as the defenseman snuck into the Utica zone for a breakaway that beat Daws between the legs at 11:42. Once again before the culmination of the first, Toronto scored again and it was Max Ellis who fired a backhand shot glove-side on Daws and into the net at 16:12. When the first concluded, the Comets were down 3-1.
In the middle frame, the Comets used their fourth power-play opportunity to slice the deficit in half after Nolan Stevens redirected a Dugan pass into the net behind the sprawling Woll at 6:41. The secondary assist was awarded to Reilly Walsh as the game was 3-2 for the Marlies.
In the final period of regulation, despite the numerous chances for Utica, they couldn’t find a way to beat Woll and the Marlies held a lead until Nico Daws left net. With the net empty, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev scored the goal that gave Toronto a 4-2 lead. Tyler Wotherspoon added a goal for Utica with 10 seconds remaining for his first of the season, but the effort was too little too late, and the Comets dropped the contest by a 4-3 score. The Comets head to the road to battle the Belleville Senators tomorrow night before playing more road games against divisional opponents Syracuse and Rochester next weekend.
Tickets are available for the Comets two game homestand December 16th and 17th at uticacomets.com/tickets. Friday night will be Christmas with the Comets, while Saturday is the return of Rockin’ the Rink.