Comets Come up Short in Final Trip to Syracuse
AHL Utica Comets

Comets Come up Short in Final Trip to Syracuse

Published on April 11, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release


Syracuse, NY - The Comets headed to Syracuse for their final regular season meeting against the Crunch and lost by a score of 5-1.

The pace was fast and furious from the opening faceoff, and it was the Comets who would strike first when Jackson van de Leest fed Xavier Parent who wheeled to the right circle and snapped a laser top corner past the glove of Crunch netminder Brandon Halverson to make it 1-0 at 4:53. It was Parent's 20th of the year with Kyle Criscuolo picking up the secondary assist. The Comets had some good looks on their first power play after Crunch forward Max Grondin was called for high-sticking, but the score remained 1-0. The Crunch would get a power play later in the frame after Cam Squires was called for holding, and it was Nick Abruzzese who took a fortuitous bounce off the end wall after a Mitchell Chaffee shot missed the net, and Abruzzese chipped one past Jakub Malek for his 15th of the year to tie the game at one on the power play at 15:05. The Crunch struck again a couple minutes later when Mitchell Chaffee fed Lucas Mercuri from behind the net who beat Malek five-hole to make it 2-1 at 17:19. It was Mercuri's 13th of the year, and Jakob Pelletier picked up the secondary assist to extend his point streak to 19 games.

The Comets started the second period on the power play after Ethan Samson was called for tripping late in the first, but the Crunch killed it off. Syracuse would then head to the power play after Austin Strand was called for tripping and capitalized on a nice goal from Lucas Mercuri who picked up a loose puck at the top of the crease and roofed it for his second of the game and 14th of the season to make it 3-1 at 2:45 on the second power play goal of the game for Syracuse. The Comets had some chances later in the period; their best came when Josh Filmon set up Dylan Wendt in the left circle, but Brandon Halverson made a terrific blocker save to keep it 3-1. The Crunch would add to the lead before the end of the period when Dylan Duke fed Gabriel Szturc in the slot, one-timing it home for his seventh of the year at 17:44 to make it a 4-1 game.

The Crunch had a few seconds of carryover power play time to start the third after Jackson van de Leest was called for hooking late in the second, but the Comets killed it off. The final stanza featured an even pace with both teams playing solid defensively. The Crunch would strike once more when rookie forward Noah Steen tipped home a shot from Matteo Pietroniro for his first career AHL goal, which came at 9:31 to make it 5-1. The game ended with some fireworks which saw two separate scraps at the final buzzer between Colton White and Noah Steen, and the other between Mikael Diotte and Matteo Pietroniro. The Comets fell by a final of 5-1 which brought their seven-game point streak to an end.

The Comets were outshot by the Crunch 34-28, while going 0-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-6 on the penalty kill.

The Comets are back home on Friday at 7 pm against the Providence Bruins for Fan Appreciation Night. For tickets or more information, fans can visit uticacomets.com/tickets or call 315-790-9070.

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American Hockey League Stories from April 11, 2026


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