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AHL Utica Comets

Shinkaruk's Two-Goals Power Comets past Wolves

November 14, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release


The Utica Comets slipped passed the Chicago Wolves Friday night with a 4-3 win, for their eleventh on the season, in front of a sold-out crowd at The Utica Memorial Auditorium.

Hunter Shinkaruk (2-0-1), Brandon DeFazio (1-1-0), and Cal O'Reilly (0-2-2) all led the way with two points apiece for the Comets. Jacob Markstrom saved 29 shots out of the 32 taken by the Wolves, and now has collected a win in seven of his eight starts.

After returning from his two-game stint with the Vancouver Canucks, DeFazio quickly reminded Utica what he could offer.

Just 32 seconds into the first period, the right-winger found the Comets first goal of the night on a penalty shot that was awarded to him just after getting hooked down on a breakaway by a Chicago defensemen.

DeFazio picked up speed as he headed towards the blue-line for his one-on-one with Matt Climie. As he approached the hashmarks, DeFazio reached into his bag of tricks. He put on the brakes, skated to Climie's right, and reached back one-handed to tuck the puck under Climie's left pad to give the Comets an early 1-0 lead and his fifth goal on the season.

Chicago returned the favor in the opening of the second period. At 1:36 Chris Butler received a pass along the boards to the left point from Colin Fraser. Pat Cannone tipped a Butler slapshot over the glove of Markstrom for the 1-1 equalizer.

Not too long after Chicago's goal, Shinkaruk found the back of the net during some confusion in front of Climie's crease. With a couple of chop's Shinkaruk tipped it up over the left shoulder of the veteran goaltender at 9:29 to make it a 2-1 lead for the Comets. O'Reilly and DeFazio both received assists on the play.

It only took two minutes and 26 seconds for the Comets to extend their lead. Brendan Gaunce raced down the left wing to take a quick shot on Climie's right side. What resulted was a flying re-bound and a swat out of the air by O'Reilly. After a swing and a miss for O'Reilly, Alexandre Grenier snuck it past Climie on his glove side. O'Reilly was credited with the secondary assist.

From there the Wolves mounted a comeback and tied the game at 3.

Chicago's first goal came just 5:05 into the third period. Brent Sopel fed the puck to Rob Bordson who gave it to Petteri Lindbohm for the shot on Markstrom. The puck beat Markstrom glove side to close the gap and make it a 3-2 game.

Chicago's scored the equalizing goal on an innocent looking shot at the 11:50 mark. Sopel fired a shot on goal that was re-directed by Ty Rattie just before he was knocked down in front of the net to tie it at three apiece.

The Comets game winning-goal came from a fluky Shinkaruk dump from center ice. The puck flew towards Climie's net and took a weird bounce directly over his glove to make the final score 4-3. This was Shinkaruk's second goal of the night and his fourth on the season. Kane Lafranchise tallied an assist on the play in just his second game of the season.

Next Wednesday, Nov. 19 the Comets will be facing the Hamilton Bulldogs for the first time this season at The AUD. The Comets went 2-2-0-0 against the Bulldogs in their inaugural season.

Tickets are available for the Comets game on Wednesday November 19 vs the Hamilton Bulldogs at The AUD. Visit www.uticacomets.com to purchase tickets or call the Comets office at 315-790-9070 for more information.

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