COMETS ROUTED BY DEVILS
Mar 4, 2018Binghamton, N.Y. – The Utica Comets fell to the Binghamton Devils by a score of 7-2 Sunday night at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. The loss was the sixth straight for the Comets.
Blake Pietila struck four and a half minutes into the game, firing a wrister past Richard Bachman. Jan Mandat and Steven Santini had the assists. Andrew Cherniwchan tied the game at one five minutes later, beating Devils goalie Eddie Lack on a breakaway. Adam Comrie and Zac Lynch picked up the assists. The assist was Lynch’s first as a Comet. Ben Thomson regained the lead for Binghamton a minute later with an unassisted goal.
Nick Lappin extended the lead to 3-1 a minute and a half into the second period. Kevin Rooney and Yaroslav Dyblenko were credited with the assists. Pietila netted his second of the night on the power play with 9:01 to go in the middle frame. Blake Speers and Jake Walman registered the assists. Thatcher Demko would replace Bachman in net after the goal. Reid Boucher got the Comets within two at the 17:33 mark of the second period with a shorthanded goal. Michael Chaput tallied the assist.
Lappin’s second of the game pushed the Devils’ lead to 5-2 three minutes into the third period. Lappin scored the hat trick goal with 13:54 remaining in the third. Rooney picked up the assist. Brian Strait made it 7-2 with under nine minutes to go in the game. Lappin and Rooney collected the assists.
Bachman made 25 saves before being replaced by Demko. Bachman’s record falls to 10-10-4. Demko stopped seven of 10 shots in relief. Lack finished with 24 saves. His record improves to 4 4-3. The Comets power play went 0-5, while the penalty kill allowed one goal in 10 attempts.
The Comets are back in action Friday, March 9 as they host the Springfield Thunderbirds. Puck drop at the Adirondack Bank Center is at 7 p.m. Fans are encouraged to utilize the ticket exchange website, StubHub!. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHL Live.