Comets Comeback Falls Short against the Crunch, Lose 6-3
February 26, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release
Utica, NY - The Comets took on their I-90 rival in the eighth addition of the Empire Recycling Cup against the Syracuse Crunch. In the previous seven games, the Comets won six of them and their only loss came in overtime. But, on Saturday night, they were defeated by a score of 6-3 against Syracuse.
In the first period, the Crunch started the scoring when team captain, Garbiel Dumont fired a slapshot from the right-wing side that beat Utica netminder Mareks Mitens on the blocker side at 8:10. The Crunch's Anthony Richard followed that up with a goal at 10:26 when his wrist shot from the slot sailed over the right shoulder of Mitens into the cage. After one period, the Comets trailed 2-0.
The Crunch picked up where they left off to start the second period getting a goal just one minute and ten seconds into the middle frame It was Garbiel Fortier who found a rebound in front of Mitens after a Alex Green shot was stopped. Fortier scored to give Syracuse a 3-0 lead. The Comets got onto the board at 8:15 after Fabian Zetterlund's zone entry, he left the puck for AJ Greer who fired a shot passed Syracuse goalie Max Legace slicing the Crunch lead to 3-1. It was Greer's 15th goal of the season. But, the Crunch kept pushing and scoring. Defenseman Sean Day scored on the powerplay at 10:22 followed by a one-timer goal from Remi Elie at 14:38. This made it a 5-1 game and the Comets made a goalie change with Akira Schmid taking over for Mitens.
At the start of the third, the Comets went back with Mitens and his team got on the board again. Samuel Laberge scored back to back goals and both assisted by Joe Gambardella. Laberge first shot sent between the legs of Legace at 2:57 while his second goal at 6:28 sailed over the glove and in. This cut the Comets deficit to 5-3. Laberge's goals gave him four on the season. But with the empty net goal by Syracuse forward Cage Concalves, the Crunch defeated the Comets 6-3.
The Comets are back in action tomorrow night, at 5:00 PM the Hershey Bears for a 5:00 PM. The following weekend, the team takes on the Crunch twice more on Friday and Saturday at the start of March before finding their way back inside the Adirondack Bank Center on Wednesday, March 9th at 7:00 PM against the Crunch. Tickets are still available. You can purchase them by going to uticacomets.com/tickets.
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