Comets Storm past Toronto with Big Second Period
April 5, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release
The Utica Comets used a team record five-goal second period to surge past the visiting Toronto Marlies on Friday evening in front of a sold out and rambunctious Utica Memorial Auditorium. With the victory the Comets move to within five points of eighth place in the Western Conference and sit a season best two games over .500, at 31-29-4-4.
Pascal Pelletier once again led the way with two goals, while Alex Friesen (1-1-2) and Kellan Lain (0-2-2) also had multi-point evenings. Winger Brandon DeFazio and defenseman Frank Corrado also scored for Utica, which evened its series against the Marlies at two games apiece. Joacim Eriksson turned aside 21 of 22 shots, as he earned his 22nd victory of the season.
Toronto struck first at the 9:36 mark of the opening stanza as Peter Holland redirected a point shot past Eriksson to make it 1-0. Defenseman TJ Brennan uncorked a shot from the blueline and Holland, camped out in front, tipped home. The point was Brennan's 64th of the season, the most amongst all defenseman in the AHL. For Holland, the goal was his tenth of the season over just 18 games. Kevin Marshall had the secondary assist on the play.
The Comets evened things up at the 5:05 mark of the second period, as Corrado let a point shot go that snuck through Toronto goaltender Garrett Sparks' legs and knotted the score at one. Friesen and Lain picked up the assists on the play, which gave Corrado his second marker of the season.
Utica took their first lead of the evening just over two minutes later as it capitalized on a 4-on-3 man advantage to make it 2-1. Henrik Tommernes unleashed a shot wide of the net that hit the back wall and came to DeFazio, who banked it off of Sparks and into the net. For DeFazio, the goal was his 16th of the season, with Alex Biega collecting the secondary assist.
It took only 4:25 for the home team to strike again, as Friesen buried a feed from Jeremy Welsh at the left post to make it 3-1. For Friesen, the point was his 11th over his past 12 games, with Welsh now riding a four game point streak. Lain also picked up his second assist of the evening on the play.
The Pascal Pelletier show took over at the 15:40 mark of the second period, as the center redirected a bid from Alex Grenier to make it 4-1. The goal was Pelletier's 16th of the season and Utica's second of the evening with the man advantage. Grenier and Cal O'Reilly had the two assists on the play, which chased Sparks from the net after 12 saves on 16 shots.
American Hockey League Stories from April 5, 2014
- Defense Leads Rampage Past Lake Erie 3-0 - San Antonio Rampage
- Shootout Winner for Cousins in 5th Round - Adirondack Phantoms
- Bachman Blanks Charlotte 1-0; Keeps Barons in Playoff Hunt - Oklahoma City Barons
- Bruins Downed by the Wolf Pack, 2-1 SO - Providence Bruins
- Sharks Suffer Overtime Loss in Much-Needed Contest - Worcester Sharks
- Griffins Win Shootout Thriller over Hamilton - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Crunch Rally Past Comets in OT, 6-5 - Syracuse Crunch
- Wolves Clinch Playoff Bid with Win over Milwaukee - Chicago Wolves
- Norfolk Spoils B-Sens' Comeback with Third Period Flurry - Binghamton Senators
- Drazenovic Tallies in OT as Pens Post 1-0 Win over Devils - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Wolf Pack wins over Providence - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Bears Fight Past Sharks in Overtime - Hershey Bears
- Griffins Edge Bulldogs 2-1 in 10-Round Shootout - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Griffins Edge Bulldogs 2-1 in 10-Round Shootout - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Langkow Scores Twice In Third, But Adirondack Prevails In Shootout - Bridgeport Islanders
- Devils Lose Thriller In Overtime - Albany Devils
- Dallas Stars Return Center Chris Mueller to Texas Stars - Texas Stars
- Albert's Two-Goal Outing Powers IceCaps to Victory - St. John's IceCaps
- Falcons Win Streak Halted with 3-1 Loss to IceCaps - Springfield Falcons
- Manchester Recalls Niederberger from Ontario - Manchester Monarchs
- Monarchs claim VIP Cup for first time in team history - Manchester Monarchs
- Rampage Reassign Rob Madore to Cincinnati - San Antonio Rampage
- Amerks Comeback to Stun Marlies with 4-3 Win - Rochester Americans
- Lessio's Hat Trick Not Enough as Monarchs Capture VIP Cup Title - Portland Pirates
- Heat Sign Coda Gordon - Abbotsford Heat
- Johan Sundstrom Returned to Sound Tigers - Bridgeport Islanders
- Kings Recall Campbell - Manchester Monarchs
- Gameday: Comets at Syracuse - Utica Comets
- Comet Tales: Behind Enemy Lines with Cedrick Desjardins - Utica Comets
- G Scott Clemmensen Reassigned to San Antonio - San Antonio Rampage
- Bears Sign Defenseman Jeff May to PTO - Hershey Bears
- Pirates Look to Gain Ground in VIP Cup Matchup with Manchester - Portland Pirates
- Comet Tales: with Alexandre Grenier - Utica Comets
- Canucks Reassign McEneny to the Comets - Utica Comets
- Comets Storm past Toronto with Big Second Period - Utica Comets
- Despite Outshooting Heat by 30, Hogs Fall - Rockford IceHogs
- Heat Top IceHogs 6-3 - Abbotsford Heat
- Monsters Fall in Texas 5-1 - Cleveland Monsters
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
