Comets Fall to Toronto 3-2
April 6, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release
The Utica Comets were unable to rebound from last evening's defeat in Syracuse, as they dropped a tight 3-2 decision to the Toronto Marlies on Sunday afternoon at Ricoh Coliseum. With the loss, Utica dropped to 31-30-5-4 and will sit five points out of eighth place at days end.
Center's Pascal Pelletier and Cal O'Reilly each scored for the Comets, while winger Alexandre Grenier collected two assists. Sam Carrick led the way for Toronto with two goals, while defenseman Eric Knodel had two assists. Joe Cannata took the loss despite a 33 save effort, while Garret Sparks was victorious with 23 saves on 25 shots.
This afternoon's contest started off slowly for the visitors, as Sam Carrick beat Cannata just 3:06 into the game. The third time proved to be the charm for Carrick, who saw his first two shots turned aside by Cannata, before he found the back of the net on his own rebound. Defenseman TJ Brennan collected the primary assist on the play, while Knodel had the secondary helper for his first career AHL point.
Toronto doubled its advantage just 1:43 later as Kenny Ryan scored for the home side. Ryan capitalized on a Yann Sauve turnover in his own zone, and went to the backhand to beat Cannata. The goal, which went down as unassisted, was the fifth of the season for Ryan.
For the fourth game in a row, the Comets made good work of their power play, as Pelletier found the back of the net from the right side to make it 2-1. Grenier made the final pass to Pelletier, who beat Sparks for the third time in their past two meetings. Brandon DeFazio also collected an assist on the play, which set a career high of 15 this season for the winger. Pelletier's goal gave him the team lead in power-play goals, with eight.
Toronto got the goal back, however, on a power play of their own midway through the third period. Carrick got his second of the night as a redirected shot from Korbinian Holzer found him at the back post with an open net. Carrick's goal was his third in three games against the Comets. Knodel also had an assist on the play.
Utica was able to pull back a late one inside the last minute, as O'Reilly finished off a pass from Grenier in front to cut the score to 3-2. With the helper, Grenier collected the third multi-assist game of his AHL career. With his fifth goal of the season, O'Reilly extended his scoring streak on the road to seven games.
Utica continues its five game stead away from The AUD this week upcoming, as they travel to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland for a two game set with the Lake Erie Monsters on Thursday and Friday. The Comets and Monsters meet for the final two times this season, with puck drop set for 8:00 p.m. in both games.
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