COMETS ROUT BRIDGEPORT TO END WEEKEND
Jan 14, 2023COMETS DOMINATE ISLANDERS, WIN 5-1
Bridgeport, CT. — The Comets only regular season visit to Bridgeport took place on Saturday night. The team had their season high twelve-game point streak end a night earlier while the Islanders won their first game in eleven tries the previous night. As the puck dropped in Bridgeport, it didn’t take long into the contest for the Comets to impose their will and when the dust settled on the North versus Atlantic divisional battle, it was the Comets who skated away victorious in a decisive manner by a 5-2 score.
In the first period, it was Mason Geersten who started the scoring early. Geersten fired a puck that beat Islanders goalie Ken Appleby at 1:53 for his second goal of the season. The goal was assisted by Jack Dugan and Aarne Talvitie. Geersten added a second goal a few minutes later at 9:02 after he pounced on a loose puck in front of Appleby. Geertsen’s second of the game was assisted by Zach Senyshyn and Talvitie and it gave Utica a 2-0 lead. As the period went on, Andreas Johnsson finally ended the night for Appleby when he beat him with a long wrist shot through traffic at 9:45 assisted by Robbie Russo and Simon Nemec. With a 3-0 lead, Appleby’s night was over, and he made room for Jakub Skarek.
In the middle period, the Comets kept scoring and their next goal came during a delayed penalty. Zach Senyshyn fired a shot through traffic that flew into the net behind Skarek at 2:50. It was Senyshyn’s sixth of the season from Jeremy Groleau and Dylan Blujus. Later, while on the power-play, the Comets Simon Nemec rifled a shot through bodies in front and struck for his fourth of the season from Jack Dugan and Joe Gambardella at 11:40. This put Utica up 5-0. The Islanders finally found a goal at 13:28 from Otto Koivula but the Comets left the second period up 5-1.
During the final period of regulation, neither team added to their totals and the Comets were just fine with the outcome, winning the contest 5-1. Akira Schmid was splendid during the contest making 33 saves on 34 shots on goal in route to victory.
The team heads to Syracuse on Monday for a 1:00 PM game. The team returns to the Adirondack Bank Center at 7:00 PM on Friday night to take on the Crunch again at 7:00 PM. Tickets are still available. Visit www.uticacomets.com for more information.