Comets Drop Third Straight
January 2, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release
The Utica Comets didn't start the new year off like they had hoped. The Comets suffered their third consecutive loss when they fell to the St. John's IceCaps 3-1 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium on Saturday night.
Joseph LaBate (1-0-1) was the only Comets player to successfully find the back of the net. Defenseman Jordan Subban (0-1-1) picked up a helper on the goal, running his point streak to five games.
The Comets applied heavy pressure early and fired the game's first three shots on goal before an offensive zone turnover resulted in the IceCaps first goal just 90 seconds into the game. A mishandled puck at the blue line sprung Lucas Lessio on a breakaway. Lessio faked a shot which brought Bachman to the ice, and swooped around the goaltender's extended pad for the unassisted tally.
Just a few minutes later it looked like the Comets had tied the game thanks to Carter Bancks. However, all the excitement was for naught, as the referee waved the goal off due to a high stick after a short meeting with his linesmen.
Just a few minutes later the IceCaps scored their second goal in just as many shots. Jeremy Gregoire received a cross crease pass from Markus Eisenschmid, and buried the eventual game-winning goal.
With nearly ten minutes gone by in the first period, the Comets were able to cut the IceCaps 2-0 lead in half. LaBate got behind the IceCaps defense, walked in all alone on Tokarski, and ripped a shot over the goaltender's shoulder for his second goal of the season.
The game remained locked at 2-1 until four minutes into the third. Brandon McNally added an insurance goal when his shot from the blue line somehow slipped through the pads of Bachman and into the net.
With the loss the Comets record falls to 16-12-3-2. The Comets penalty unit came in strong once again, successfully killing all four of the penalties called on them, and running their penalty-killing streak to 12 straight.
The Comets will look to snap their three game losing streak when they hit the road next week for a three-in-three. The road trip starts off in Binghamton on Friday where the boys in blue will face the Senators. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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