COMETS ROCK THE RINK AT HOME SATURDAY
Nov 20, 2021Last Night’s Historic Game: The Utica Comets entered the Adirondack Bank Center with a chance to make history should they win their 12th straight game but standing in their way were the 2019 Calder Cup Champion Charlotte Checkers. Despite going down early in the contest, the Comets managed to have a second period explosion of goals and rewrote the history books with a 4-1 victory.
The Checkers jumped out to an early lead in the first period, scoring less than two minutes into the game. Checkers forward Max McCormick was in the right place at the right time as he redirected a point shot past Comets’ goaltender Nico Daws.
The Comets opened the second period with a series of great scoring chances and created some momentum that ultimately led to the game tying goal. A point shot from Robbie Russo popped out to forward Ryan Schmelzer who found the tape of Nolan Foote at the top of the crease for his second goal of the season at 6:09. The Comets continued putting on the pressure in the offensive zone and took their first lead of the game when forward Nate Schnarr deflected a shot from Frederik Gauthier at 15:13. Only minutes later, Schnarr found himself in a similar situation in front of the net. This time, it was a shot from defenseman Reilly Walsh that Schnarr was able to get a stick on for his second goal of the game at 18:19. The Comets went into the locker room after two periods holding a 3-1 lead and outshooting the Checkers 20-12.
The third period was filled with back-and-forth action. The Comets successfully killed off a Charlotte power play just a few minutes into the final frame and were able to keep the Checkers off the score board for the remainder of the period. Forward Aarne Talvitie scored an empty net goal with just over two minutes left in the game to add to the Comets lead.
With the 4-1 victory, the Utica Comets just etched their name into the AHL record books. Their impressive 12-0-0-0 start to the season is the best by any team since the AHL was founded in 1936.
Nathan Schnarr: The Waterloo, Ontario native and former OHL Champion, Nathan Schnarr had himself a two-goal night and now has five points in his last three games played including two goals and three assists. The three assists can against Belleville on Sunday afternoon last weekend during another Comets victory. On the season thus far, Schnarr has totaled 10 points (4G, 6A) in 10 games played. He needs five points to tie his career best 15 points set last year in 33 games for Binghamton.
DeLeo Could Return: After missing games due to illness, the team’s leading scorer, Chase DeLeo could finally make his return to the lineup against the Rochester Americans. The California native leads the Comets in assists and points with 12 (1G, 11A). His last game played was on November 7th when the Comets defeated the Laval Rocket inside the Adirondack Bank Center. DeLeo has four straight multi-point games in a row and currently is on a five-game point streak.