Comets Special Teams Thrive in Victory
February 12, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release
UTICA, N.Y. - The Utica Comets struck twice on the power play and were a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill as the defeated the Binghamton Senators 5-2 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium onFriday night. The Comets have now won five out of their last six games.
Brendan Gaunce (1-2-3), Ronalds Kenins (0-2-2), Hunter Shinkaruk (1-1-2), Taylor Fedun (1-1-2), and Alexandre Grenier (1-1-2) recorded multi-point nights for the Comets, while Darren Archibald (1-0-1), Jordan Subban (0-1-1), Joseph LaBate (0-1-1), and Andrey Pedan (0-1-1) had one point each. Joe Cannata made 31 saves to record his 13th win of the season.
The Comets got on the board first, 3:40 into the first period with a power play goal. Fedun sent a shot from the point, and Brendan Gaunce redirected the shot into the net for his 14th goal of the season.
The Senators struck back with 1:43 left in the first to tie it 1-1. Casey Bailey sent a pass to Cole Schneider in front of the net, and he punched it in from the crease.
Utica would take the lead back 1:02 into the second period, when Gaunce sent a backhand pass into the crease, and Shinkaruk finished the job, netting his 19th goal of the season.
Binghamton would tie it up again with 3:48 left in the second. Max McCormick got on a breakaway and sent a shot past Cannata to make it 2-2.
The Comets would take the lead for good on Taylor Fedun's fifth goal of the season. Utica came down on a 3 on 2, Grenier sent a backhand pass across the crease to Fedun, who came barreling down the right side of the ice to finish it off, and give the Comets a 3-2 lead.
Darren Archibald extended the lead to 4-2 with 10:23 left in regulation. Archibald came down the left side of the ice, chasing down a pass from LaBate, and sending a shot past Matt O'Connor for his fifth goal of the year.
Grenier capped off the scoring for the night, sending a slap shot from the blue line, and into the back of the Senators empty net with 17 seconds remaining in the game.
Utica finished with 33 shots on goal, while Binghamton had 29 shots. O'Connor had 23 saves for Binghamton.
With the win, Utica improves to 23-17-4-3. The loss drops the Senators to 17-28-3-0.
The Comets will be back in action tomorrow night, as they will be on the road, taking on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
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