Comets Beat Rocket, 4-3, Take 3 Points in Laval
AHL Utica Comets

Comets Beat Rocket, 4-3, Take 3 Points in Laval

Published on January 3, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release


Laval, QC - The Comets faced the Rocket at Place Bell for the second straight night and came away with a 4-3 victory.

For the second game in a row, the Comets controlled play out of the gate and held the Rocket without a shot for the first six minutes of the game. The Comets were again assessed the first penalty of the game but tonight killed off Laval's first power play with ease. Later in the period, Laval forward Tyler Thorpe won a puck battle along the left-wing boards after an offensive zone faceoff, fed it back to Marc Del Gaizo who wristed one past Jakub Malek through traffic for his third of the year to give the Rocket the 1-0 lead at 13:46. The Comets went on the power play later in the first and poured it on. Despite not capitalizing, they carried that momentum through the rest of the period and would eventually tie the game after Josh Filmon dumped a puck into the Laval zone, picked it up along the end boards, and found Topias Vilen out high who beat Laval netminder Hunter Jones high blocker side with a beautiful shot for his second goal of the year at the 19:12 mark.

The second period featured a scrap between Brian Halonen and Florian Xhekaj just over a minute into the frame which provided some momentum for the Comets and led to the go-ahead goal when Shane Lachance deflected a point shot from Mikael Diotte through the pads of Hunter Jones at the 1:15 mark for Lachance's fourth of the season. Jonathan Gruden was credited with the secondary assist. It was a defensive battle for much of the second period with neither team conceding many quality chances. The Comets headed to the power play later in the period, but it was the Rocket who would capitalize when Florian Xhekaj stole a puck at center ice and skated in all alone, beating Jakub Malek low glove side to tie the game at two on his seventh of the year which came unassisted at 14:05. The Comets killed off a late second period penalty when Ethan Edwards was called for delay of game and the teams exited the ice in a 2-2 tie through 40 minutes.

The Rocket scored early in the third when Marc Del Gaizo fired a shot from the left-wing side beating Malek glove side off the post and in for his second of the game to give Laval a 3-2 lead at 2:16. The teams were assessed offsetting minors later in the period and on the ensuing 4-on-4, Lenni Hameenaho slid a pass to Ethan Edwards who raced into the left circle and beat Hunter Jones glove side to tie the game at three for his third of the season at 8:35. Less than a minute later, Brian Halonen made a nice cross-ice pass to Ethan Edwards who ripped one home from virtually the same spot, once again beating Jones glove side to put the Comets up 4-3. The Comets penalty kill came up huge later in the third when Lenni Hameenaho was called for hooking. The Rocket pulled Hunter Jones and poured on the pressure in the final minutes, but Jakub Malek and the Comets defense corps came up huge as the Comets held on for a 4-3 win to take three points out of four in the weekend series.

Malek made 20 saves in his third win of the season as the Rocket outshot the Comets 23-22. The Comets went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and 0-for-3 on the power play.

The Comets are back home on Wednesday against the Springfield Thunderbirds at 7 pm. For tickets, please visit uticacomets.com/tickets or call 315-790-9070.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 3, 2026


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