CLEVELAND TAKES DOWN UTICA BEFORE BREAK
Dec 19, 2024Cleveland, Ohio. – After defeating the North Division’s leading Cleveland Monsters the night before, the Comets hoped to carry momentum into the rematch game on Thursday night at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. It was the final game before the Christmas break and the gift the team wanted to unveil was two more points in the standings. Unfortunately, the Monsters had other ideas as they took a lead early in the game and never relinquished it during the contest. The Comets ended up losing the contest by a 6-1 score.
The Monsters took a one goal lead in the first period just as they did the previous contest. This time it was a two-on-one break that saw Trey Fix Wolansky send a cross-ice pass to Luca Del Bel Belluz who blasted it over the shoulder of Comets goalie, Nico Daws at 2:09. The Monsters used a screen to score and put themselves up, 2-0 after defenseman Denton Mateychuk found daylight through the bodies and put the puck under the bar passed Daws at 11:16 as the period ended with the Comets 2-0.
During the second period, Mateychuk scored on another wristshot through traffic but this time he did it on the powerplay only 57 seconds into the period putting the Monsters up, 3-0. The Comets had some powerplay magic of their own when Max Willman’s shot beat Monsters goal Pavel Cajan. It was Willman’s second of the season and it was assisted by Bian Halonen at 5:56. With the game at 3-1, the Comets couldn’t keep the Monsters off the scoresheet again and it was Gavin Brindley who redirected a Dylan Gambrell shot passed Daws at 9:46 bringing the deficit to 4-1.
In the final period of play, the Monsters added a powerplay goal again when Gambrell scored on his shot at 10:35 to put the Comets down 5-1. Cleveland extended their lead after Justin Pearson scored at 11:06 to put the Comets behind, 6-1. The game concluded and the Comets left without adding any additional points in the standings.
The Comets are back in action against the Rochester Americans on the road on Friday, December 27th before heading back to the Adirondack Bank Center on Saturday, December 28th at 7:00 PM in a rematch against the Americans. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by visiting www.uticacomets.com/tickets.