Comets 10 Game Win Streak Snapped
by Mark Caswell, Jr.
Apr 10, 2015The Utica Comets 10-game winning streak came to a close Friday evening after falling 3-2 to the Adirondack Flames at The Utica Memorial Auditorium.
Alexandre Grenier (1-1-2) and Cory Conacher (1-0-1) scored the Comets only goals of the night even after unloading a total of 42 shots on Adirondack’s goaltender Doug Carr. In light of the loss, Cal O’Reilly (0-1-1) extended his point-streak to 14 games with an assist on the Comets second goal.
The Comets hard work in the first period proved to be semi-rewarding after they unloaded 20 shots on Carr. Grenier found their first goal of the game following a cross-checking penalty from Patrick Sieloff. After he mishandled the puck, it was turned over into the slot where Grenier buried the rubber for the power-play goal and the 1-0 lead.
Sieloff sought retribution in the second period after sitting in the box for the Comets power-play goal. At 3:11 Sieloff sent a rocket from the left circle that spiked past Joe Cannata’s short sid. Sena Acolatse tallied the only assist on Adirondack’s equalizer.
The Flames remained persistent well into the third period and eventually popped another one in to take the 2-1 lead at 8:12. A turnover in the Comets end set up Mathieu Tousignant to the left of Cannata as he swiped the puck towards the net on a desperate attempt to keep the puck alive. Tousignant got more than he intended as the puck slipped past Cannata’s blocker side for Adirondack’s second of the game and the eventual game-winning goal.
Things turned sour for the Comets at 19:01 when Turner Elson popped in an empty netter after the Comets pulled Cannata for the man advantage.
With nothing to lose, the Comets pulled Cannata again while trailing by two goals, but this time things seemed to piece together as Conacher bombed one in from the right side through a screen that put the Comets within one at 19:34.
With only 23.5 seconds left on the clock, the Comets were unable to find the equalizer and the buzzer eventually sounded for a final score of 3-2.
Prior to the start of Tuesday night’s game, several Comets players were presented with awards for their outstanding achievements on and off the ice during the 2014-2015 regular season. Among those who were awarded were Jacob Markstrom (Three Stars & MV Media Player of the Year), Alex Biega (Thomas Lindsay Award), Carter Bancks (Bill Horton Award), Brendan Gaunce (Ian Anderson Award), Bobby Sanguinetti (Eric Weinrich Award), and Cal O’Reilly (Tom McVie Award).
The Comets will continue their three-in-three weekend tomorrow night as they head to the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton, N.Y. to face the Binghamton Senators at 7:05 p.m.
Three Stars: 1. ADK – Daniel Carr (42 Saves, Win) 2. ADK – Mathieu Tousignant (1 Goal) 3. UTI – Joe Cannata (25 Saves)