COMETS MEET CRUNCH ON THE ROAD FRIDAY

Last Time on the Ice: The Comets won both games against the Laval Rocket this season but the Rocket would finally get their first win against Utica with a 4-3 win on the strength of three power-play goals this past Wednesday night in Laval. 

The home team struck first in the opening period on the man-advantage when Jesse Ylonen scored on a wrist shot through traffic that beat Comets Nico Dawes at 4:29. The Comets would receive a power-play opportunity during the first but were unable to tie the game. Despite outshooting Laval in the first with eight shots to six, the Comets trailed after twenty minutes, 1-0.

During the middle frame, Utica tied the contest on a two-on-one break. As Aarne Talvitie carried the puck into the Rocket zone, he dished to Alex Holtz who fired a shot low on the glove side against Laval goalie Kevin Poulin. The shot tied the game at 1-1 at 6:05. The Rocket struck back however, and it was another power-play goal by Ylonen taking a shot after a cross ice pass by Jean Sebastien Dea. The puck found its way past Daws and 8:57. Laval made it a 3-1 game as a seeing-eye point shot by Louie Belpedio went through traffic, off the crossbar and into the net blocker side of Daws at 10:55. The Comets weren’t done yet though and an individual effort by Nate Scharr who drove the goal moving down the left boards and placing the puck over the left pad and under the glove of Poulin and into the cage at 18:50. The Comets left the second period down 3-2.

In the final period of regulation, Utica tied the contest, and it was defenseman Michael Vukojevic took a lovely pass by Nolan Foote who saw Vukojevic streaking down the slot. The shot by the Comets defenseman at 5:30 tied the game at 3-3. But, it was the Laval power-play struck for the third time in the game and it was Peter Abbandonato that was the recipient of a good bounce and his shot from 15 feet away got through traffic and into the net at 15:40 putting his team up 4-3. This would end up as game winner for the Rocket.

The Comets Make Roster Moves:  The Utica Comets General Manager, Dan MacKinnon, announced today that the team has recalled forward Tyler Irvine from the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL and loaned forward Patrick McGrath to Adirondack. Also, goaltender Mareks Mittens has been reassigned to the Thunder. 

Irvine, 25, skated in seven games previously for the Comets scoring one goal and two assists during that time. This season with Adirondack, in 22 games played, he has 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points. He currently leads Adirondack in goals and points this season. 

McGrath, 28, has played in 12 games for the Comets this season without registering a point. The Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania native skated last season with the Indy Fuel of the ECHL and the Rochester Americans of the AHL. 

Mittens, 23, skated in eight games for the Comets this season posting a record of 4-3-1. From December 10th through January 14th, Mittens started in eight straight games for the team while posting a goals against average of 3.84 and a save percentage of .867. Mittens skated in 13 games for the Thunder this season before his recall with Utica.

Comets Leading Scorers: The team’s leading scorer heading into the weekend is Chase DeLeo who has registered six goals and 21 assists for 27 points in 20 games played. Following him is Fabian Zetterlund with a team leading 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points in 25 games played. Nate Scharr is tied with Zetterlund for the team lead in goals scored with 11 and trails Zetterlund in the points department by two with 22 points in 26 games this year. Reilly Walsh leads all d-men in scoring with four goals and 17 assists for 21 points in 28 games. Tyler Wotherspoon leads the team in plus/minus with a +19 rating.