WALSH OT WINNER CLOSES OUT REGULAR SEASON AT HOME
Apr 22, 2022Utica, NY – The Comets took to the ice for the final home game of the regular season as they battled their I-90 rival, Rochester Americans for the penultimate game against them on Friday night. When the smoke cleared, the Comets skated away with an overtime victory by the score 3-2.
During the first period, the Rochester Americans get the scoring started as JJ Peterka scored his 25th of the year on a breakaway chance off the great feed from rookie forward Jack Quinn, shooting it top left over Nico Daws. There was no scoring in the remainder of the period as the Comets trailed 1-0 after twenty minutes.
In the middle frame, Tyler Irvine gets loose on a short-handed breakaway, Luukkonen makes the initial save but Comets captain Ryan Schmelzer buries the rebound on the follow up. This would tie the contest at one a piece. The Comets take the lead on the powerplay as Reilly Walsh finds Alexander Holtz who makes no mistake, beating Luukkonen far side putting the Comets up 2-1. That would conclude the scoring for the second period as the Comets lead 2-1 over the Americans.
In the final period of regulation, the Americans tied the contest on the power-play on a goal that was struck by Sean Malone at 18:53 sending the game to overtime. In the extra session, Comets defenseman Reilly Walsh skated away the hero after he took a great pass from Joe Gambardella and potted in his own rebound at 1:11 to boost the Comets to a 3-2 victory. The Comets, with two games left, will face Rochester once more in a week.
The Comets return to action next week against Rochester on Friday night on the road at 7:05 followed by the final game of the regular season in Providence on Saturday at 7:05. The next time the team steps onto the ice at home will be during the first round of the playoffs. For playoff tickets, please visit uticacomets.com/playoffs.