UTICA BATTLES TO SHOOTOUT LOSS
Dec 30, 2023Utica, NY. — Losing their previous five games, the Comets tried to turn their fortunes around against one of their most bitter rivals, the Rochester Americans. In front of a sold-out crowd at the Adirondack Bank Center, the Comets took to the ice in front of a roaring crowd which spurred a furious start against the top affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. With the game tied at 2-2, it took a shootout to decide the contest with the Comets gaining a point in the 3-2 shootout loss.
In the first period, the Comets found the back of the net after Kyle Criscuolo took the perfect cross ice feed from Graeme Clarke and buried his shot behind Rochester goalie, Dustin Tokarski at 5:48 for his sixth of the year. It was the only goal of the first and the Comets skated into the intermission up, 1-0.
In the middle frame, there was no scoring but the last period proved to have chances for both teams that resulted in goal. The Americans tied the contest after Tyson Jost scored just 1:48 into the period making it a 1-1 contest. The Comets regained a one goal advantage and they did it on the powerplay when Xavier Parent took a nice pass from Kyle Criscuolo and buried his opportunity for his ninth of the season at 11:14. With the goaltender pulled, Rochester’s Michael Mersch at 17:32 tied the contest at 2-2 sending the game to overtime. While no one scored in the extra session, the game went to a shootout where in the eighth round, Linus Weissbach scored the game winner.
The Comets are back in action Friday night, January 5th at 7:00 PM inside the Adirondack Bank Center against the Laval Rocket. Great seats are still available.
Single game tickets are now available for the 2023-24 season. Visit uticacomets.com/tickets for more information. Season Ticket Memberships are also available for the 2023-24 Season. Tickets are still available. Visit www.uticacomets.com/ticketsfor more information.