Comets Stave off Pirates with 3-2 Win
November 4, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release
UTICA, N.Y. - The Utica Comets were delighted the sold out home crowd on Wednesday night, as they defeated the Portland Pirates by the score of 3-2 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Darren Archibald scored in his first game back with the Comets, after recently being signed to a Professional Tryout Contract.
Archibald (1-0-1), Ashton Sautner (1-0-1), and Blair Jones (1-0-1) scored for the Comets, while Joe Cannata made 25 saves in the victory.
The Pirates kicked off the scoring 8:19 into the first period when the puck got deflected into the air, Cannata lost sight of it, and the puck deflected off the back glass, off Cannata's back and trickled into the net. Vinny Saponari was credited with the Portland goal. Zac Larraza and Chase Balisy assisted on the goal.
Archibald then scored a goal on his first shot back in a Comet uniform. The goal came 18:04 into the first period, when he received a pass from Alex Friesen and put a wrist shot over the shoulder of the goalkeeper to tie the game 1-1. Andrey Pedan also assisted on the Archibald goal.
The Comets struck again just 56 seconds later when Sautner fired a shot to the left of the goalkeeper on a perfect pass from Hunter Shinkaruk, for the first goal of his professional career. Blair Jones was also credited with an assist on the goal.
Portland came back to tie the game 6:53 into the second period on a goal from Rob Schremp. Assisting on Schremp's goal were Cameron Gaunce and Rob Flick.
The Comets regained the lead when Blair Jones scored what proved to be the game-winning goal 18:39 into the second period. His shot deflected off the skate of a Portland defender and straight into the net for Jones' fourth goal of the season. Carter Bancks assisted on the goal.
The third period was a defensive battle, as the two teams went back and forth. The Pirates had a chance late after Archibald and Alexandre Grenier were called for penalties, putting the Comets down two men. Utica managed to stop the Portland 6-on-3 attack to secure the victory.
The Pirates ended up with 27 shots on goal, after getting off 13 shots in the first period alone. Utica finished the game with 22 shots.
With the win, the Comets improve to 4-4-1-0 overall on the season, while Portland falls to 3-5-0-0.
The Comets will be back in action on Friday as they welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs AHL affiliate, Toronto Marlies to the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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