COMETS TRAVEL TO HERSHEY SATURDAY
Feb 27, 2022LAST NIGHT’S LOSS: The Comets took on their I-90 rival in the eighth addition of the Empire Recycling Cup against the Syracuse Crunch last night. In the previous seven games, the Comets won six of them and their only loss came in overtime. But, on Saturday night, they were defeated by a score of 6-3 against Syracuse.
In the first period, the Crunch started the scoring when team captain, Garbiel Dumont fired a slapshot from the right-wing side that beat Utica netminder Mareks Mitens on the blocker side at 8:10. The Crunch’s Anthony Richard followed that up with a goal at 10:26 when his wrist shot from the slot sailed over the right shoulder of Mitens into the cage. After one period, the Comets trailed 2-0.
The Crunch picked up where they left off to start the second period getting a goal just one minute and ten seconds into the middle frame It was Garbiel Fortier who found a rebound in front of Mitens after a Alex Green shot was stopped. Fortier scored to give Syracuse a 3-0 lead. The Comets got onto the board at 8:15 after Fabian Zetterlund’s zone entry, he left the puck for AJ Greer who fired a shot passed Syracuse goalie Max Legace slicing the Crunch lead to 3-1. It was Greer’s 15th goal of the season. But, the Crunch kept pushing and scoring. Defenseman Sean Day scored on the powerplay at 10:22 followed by a one-timer goal from Remi Elie at 14:38. This made it a 5-1 game and the Comets made a goalie change with Akira Schmid taking over for Mitens.
At the start of the third, the Comets went back with Mitens and his team got on the board again. Samuel Laberge scored back to back goals and both assisted by Joe Gambardella. Laberge first shot sent between the legs of Legace at 2:57 while his second goal at 6:28 sailed over the glove and in. This cut the Comets deficit to 5-3. Laberge’s goals gave him four on the season. But with the empty net goal by Syracuse forward Cage Concalves, the Crunch defeated the Comets 6-3.
Comets Leading Scorers: The team’s leading scorer heading into the weekend is tied with Chase DeLeo scoring 10 goals and 28 assists for 38 points in 33 games played and forward Fabian Zetterlund who has registered 18 goals and 20 assists for 38 points in 42 games played. Reilly Walsh leads all d-men in scoring with six goals and 27 assists for 33 points in 45 games. Alex Holtz is the team’s leading rookie scorer with 18 goals and 16 assists for 34 points in 31 games but is out this weekend due to illness. Tyler Wotherspoon leads the team in plus/minus with a +20 rating.
The Standings: The Comets remain atop the North Division with 46 games played and 30 victories. Holding a record of 30-11-5 gives Utica 65 points which is 10 points ahead of the next team, the Rochester Americans who have 55 points on the season. The Americans have played three more games that Utica as of today. The Comets winning percentage of .707 ranks them first in the Eastern Conference and third in the league.