Comets Return Home, Down Senators 5-3
AHL Utica Comets

Comets Return Home, Down Senators 5-3

Published on February 27, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release


Utica, NY - The Comets faced off against the Belleville Senators for the fifth time this season and came away with a 5-3 victory.

The Senators had a couple quality looks early on, but Nico Daws made some big stops and continued his strong play, entering the game on a three-game winning streak. The Comets settled in and would get on the board at the 8:42 mark when Ethan Edwards raced into the offensive zone and fed Jack Malone who made a nice move to the backhand, slipping one through the pads of Belleville goaltender Leevi Merilainen to make it 1-0. Mikael Diotte picked up the secondary assist. The Comets would add to the lead a few minutes later when Jack Malone made a great play to steal the puck behind the Senators' net, dished it to Ryan Schmelzer who fed Shane Lachance. tapping it home for his 10th of the year to make it 2-0 at 12:01. The Comets struck again shortly thereafter when Calen Addison pinched down the right-wing boards and sent a shot towards the net that was tipped home by Kyle Criscuolo to make it 3-0 at the 13:21 mark on his ninth of the year with Brian Halonen picking up the secondary assist. That ended the night for Leevi Merilainen who allowed three goals on six shots in under a five-minute span as Mads Sogaard came in on relief.

The Comets continued the pressure in the second period when Marc McLaughlin had his shot partially blocked and then ricochet off the crossbar, but it stayed out as Sogaard was able to scramble and cover the puck. The Comets would eventually add to the lead when Dennis Cholowski fired a shot that was tipped by Angus Crookshank which was stopped by Sogaard, but Xavier Parent was there to chip home the rebound for his 10th of the year at 8:31. The Senators pushed back and registered a total of 10 shots in the middle frame, but Nico Daws turned aside every shot he faced to preserve the 4-0 lead for Utica heading into the third.

The Comets headed to the power play early in the third period after a high-sticking call went against Belleville, and it was Matyas Melovsky making a nice backdoor feed to Angus Crookshank who tapped home his 15th of the year at the 1:30 mark to make it a 5-0 game. Dennis Cholowski picked up his second assist of the game. The Senators had a solid push and would end up cutting into the deficit later in the period. Xavier Bourgault started the scoring at the 11:13 mark when he picked up a loose puck in front after Carter Yakemchuk's shot was blocked, and Bourgault jammed it home for his 15th of the year at 11:13. They would strike again less than a minute later when Lassi Thomson fired home a shot from the bottom of the left circle on a pass from Scott Harrington, which made it 5-2 at 12:03. The Senators cut the lead to two when Xavier Bourgault tipped home a shot from Landon Hookey past Nico Daws at 17:18 for his second of the game and 16th of the year, but the Comets hung on for a 5-3 win, extending their home point streak to three games. It was the fourth straight win for Nico Daws.

The Comets were outshot by the Senators 26-20. The Comets went 1-for-3 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.

The Comets are back home on Tuesday at 7 pm against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. 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 February 27, 2026


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