Comets Extend to Division Lead with 3-2 Win over the Americans
November 8, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release
After their 3-2 victory over the Rochester Americans at the Blue Cross Arena, the Utica Comets have extended their win streak to four games, and have collected 22 out of a possible 26 points on the season. With the victory the Comets now hold a 10-point lead on the Western Conference's North Division.
Wacey Hamilton (1-1-2) and Henrik Tommernes (0-2-2) both contributed with two points a piece. Jacob Markstrom put on another spectacular performance for the club by saving 33 of 35 shots. His goals-against-average sits at a remarkable at 0.99 on the season.
After an uneventful first period, the Comets buried a back-door opportunity when Wacey Hamilton scored his first goal of the year just 52 seconds into the second period. After Rochester turned over the puck in the neutral zone, Henrik Tommernes fed the puck up to Brendan Gaunce just prior to entering the offensive zone. As Gaunce approached the left side of the net, he dropped a pass back to Hamilton who then ripped off a shot immediately into Andrey Makarov's chest. After Makarov was unable to hold on to the puck, Hamilton picked up the rebound and whipped it towards the backside of the goaltender from behind the net. The puck bounced off of the Russian keeper's left leg and landed in the net to make it a 1-0 lead for the Comets.
In the latter half of the second period, Utica found the back of the net again. After taking a drop pass from Hamilton, Ronalds Kenins fired a shot on goal, rebound struck off of the goal post and bounced right back onto Kenins stick. Kenins tapped it into the open net for his third goal of the year. Frank Corrado also received an assist on the play.
After letting two goals in, Rochester decided it was time to bury one themselves. The woud strike for the first time 2:36 into the third period. After receiving a pass from Chad Ruhwedel, Luke Adam shot it blindly towards Jacob Markstrom's net hoping that the screen would work in their favor. And that it did. The shot deflected off of Comets' Peter Andersson's foot and into the back of his own net to make it 2-1. Jake McCabe took credit for the secondary assist.
At 13:04 into the third Utica discovered their third and final goal of the night, this time on the power play after Joel Armia went to the box just a minute prior for a holding call. Tommernes and Cal O'Reilly set up Bobby Sanguinetti for a wrist shot on the right wing. The snipe was buried to Makarov's high glove side to extend the gap back to two, which made it a 3-1 game.
The Americans cut the Comets lead to one for a second time with 3:04 left in the game. Luke Adam backhanded a shot from just above the right dot which ended up finding it's way to the stick of former Comets player, Zac Dalpe. With a lift of his stick, Dalpe deflected the rubber and snuck it past Markstrom to make the final score 3-2. Phil Varone also tallied an assist on the play.
The Comets have won their last eight of nine games and are now leading the entire league with 22 points on the season out of a possible 26 points.
The Comets will return to The Utica Memorial Auditorium this Wednesday, Nov. 12, as they take on the Chicago Wolves for the first of two match-ups in three days. Last year, the two teams took a win each in their only two match-ups of the season.
Tickets are available for the Comets game on Wednesday November 12 vs the Chicago Wolves at The AUD. Visit www.uticacomets.com to purchase tickets or call the Comets office at 315-790-9070 for more information.
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