DeFazio's Hat Trick Powers Comets
December 27, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release
In a 6-3 final decision against the Lake Erie Monsters at The Utica Memorial Auditorium on Saturday night, the Comets closed out the month of December with a 7-0-3-0 record with a total of 17 points out of a possible 20.
Brandon DeFazio (3-0-3), the first star of the game might be able to open up his own hat store after tonight's hat trick just moments into the second period. Hamilton (1-1-2), Darren Archibald (1-1-2) and Dustin Jeffrey (0-2-2) also contributed to the Comets second victory this season over the Monsters.
The Comets came out hard and fast and their efforts showed up quickly on the scoreboard just moments into beginning of the first period. At 6:45 DeFazio received a short pass directly between the hashmarks from Darren Archibald. DeFazio snapped the rubber off of the blade of his stick only to bury it top shelf past Flames goaltender Roman Will for the 1-0 lead for his first goal of the night. Travis Ehrhardt received the secondary assist on the play.
Just 18 seconds into the second stanza, the Monsters and the fans at The AUD realized DeFazio's wheels hadn't stopped turning. After a quick bout of shots taken on Will, the Czech Republic native was unable to control every re-bound outside of his crease. As the puck popped out of his possession for the third consecutive time, DeFazio found the puck to his right side and emptied in to the mesh for his second goal of the night to make it 2-0. Dustin Jeffrey and Andrey Pedan both received assists after their shot attempts.
And just moments later at 3:46, hats began to hit the ice.
After pick-pocketing one of the Lake Erie defensemen at the blue-line, DeFazio rushed into the offensive zone on a breakaway. In one swift move to deke Will in the opposite direction, DeFazio shot the puck and lifted it past Will's blocker side for the hat-trick goal, and his twelve of the season, which is just shy five goals of the 17 he scored last season for the Comets.
Even with the 3-0 lead, the Comets weren't letting up on the Cleveland hockey club. At 15:31, Carter Bancks fed a cross-ice saucer pass to Hamilton in a play that might be best explained as 'too close for comfort.'
Hamilton popped the puck in past Will's right side and immediately took the net with him as he crashed into the boards. With the net coming off after the puck had crossed the line, Hamilton was credited with the fourth Comets goal of the night to make it a four nothing game. John Negrin was credited with the secondary assist.
After letting in three goals in the second period, the Monsters thought it was time for a goaltending change for the start of the third period. Sami Aittokallio replaced Will in net for his first game since Dec. 13.
It only took 6 minutes into the final period for the Comets to bury one past the new opposing goaltender. After a pass to Brendan Gaunce from Alex Biega near the top of the circle, Gaunce pinpointed his target and sniped the puck over Aittokallio's glove for a power-play goal to give the Comets the five nothing lead.
The Monsters finally started to find the net just before the halfway mark into the third. Karl Stollery retrieved the puck at 7:09 and blasted the puck from the point right past Eriksson to make the score 5-1.
At 11:40 the Monsters found another, but this time on the power play. While setting up on the attack, Paul Carey found his way to the left of Eriksson while receiving a pass from Maxim Noreau. With one swift pluck, Carey buried the puck to chip away at the Comets commanding four-goal lead. Mike Sgarbossa received the secondary assist on Monsters second goal of the game.
The Comets were reminded of the saying, "It isn't over until it's over," at 16:58 when the Monsters found their third consecutive goal of the period. After what looked like a harmless shot by Troy Bourke, the puck made it's way to Eriksson's shoulder only to bounce up over his head and roll discretely into the net behind him to make the score 5-3. Markus Laurisdsen and Mike Sgarbossa were both credited with the secondary assists.
Darren Archibald finally put an end to the madness with one minute and seven seconds left on the ticker. Following the Monsters goalie-pull for the extra attacker, Frank Corrado and Dustin Jeffrey teamed up to dish the puck up to Archibald, who then guided it safely to its destination as he was holding off a Monsters defensemen. The last goal of the game made it 6-3, which is a season high for goals scored in a single game for the Comets.
The boys in blue continue to keep on rolling with their fourth consecutive win which has put them at a total of 47 points on the season and keeps them in first place in the entire American Hockey League.
Fans won't be able to watch the Comets until next year, but fortunately that's only a handful of days away. The AUD will see it's first 3 p.m. puck drop of the season on New Years Day when they take on the San Antonio Rampage for the third time this season. In their last two match-ups the Comets walked away with two wins from the AT&T Center (Oct. 24 & Dec. 5).
American Hockey League Stories from December 27, 2014
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- Davidson Lifts OKC to 2-1 OT Win over Rampage - Oklahoma City Barons
- Checkers Suffer Setback in Texas - Charlotte Checkers
- Griffins Enjoy Wild 9-2 Win - Grand Rapids Griffins
- 'Dogs Fall 5-0 to Flames - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Ritchie's Hat Trick Leads Stars to 4-2 Win Over Charlotte - Texas Stars
- Norfolk Falls to Lehigh Valley in Eight-Round Shootout, 3-2 - Norfolk Admirals
- Sharks Swallow Crunch, Snap Syracuse Streak at 10 - Syracuse Crunch
- Monsters Fall in Utica 6-3 - Cleveland Monsters
- Skapski, Wolf Pack Take Down Portland 3-1 - Hartford Wolf Pack
- DeFazio's Hat Trick Powers Comets - Utica Comets
- Sharks Stellar in 4-2 Road Win at Syracuse - Worcester Sharks
- Sound Tigers Blank Penguins - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Bridgeport Blanks Second Straight Opponent - Bridgeport Islanders
- Amerks Tripped up in 3-2 Loss to Marlies - Rochester Americans
- B-Sens Shake off 1st Period Deficit; Win 4-3 in OT - Binghamton Senators
- Senators Come Back to Defeat Bears in Overtime - Hershey Bears
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- Falcons Fall to Devils, 4-3, in Overtime - Springfield Falcons
- Binghamton Signs Mannino - Binghamton Senators
- Ebert Scores OT Game Winner vs. Providence - Manchester Monarchs
- Curry Recalled by Minnesota - Iowa Signs Goalie Desander to PTO - Iowa Wild
- Providence Bruins Fall to Manchester Monarchs 3-2 in Overtime - Providence Bruins
- Rampage Recall Stephan Vigier from Cincinnati - San Antonio Rampage
- Texas Recalls Kiviaho from Idaho - Texas Stars
- Canucks Recall Bobby Sanguinetti from Comets - Utica Comets
- Sabres Recall Grigorenko from Rochester - Rochester Americans
- Amerks Recall Kea; Sign Fullerton and Reid to PTO Contracts - Rochester Americans
- Springfield Falcons Recall Scott Munroe from Kalamazoo Wings - Springfield Falcons
- McCollum to Griffins, Backman to Linkopings HC - Grand Rapids Griffins
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