Photo credit: Utica Comets Facebook page
Last weekend was full of ups and downs for the Comets. Grizzled veteran Chris Higgins caught fire on the top line with a surging Alex Grenier and newly acquired T.J. Hensick. They also struggled to get going against one of their fiercest rivals, the Rochester Americans.
But the strangest thing of happened in the middle game of the three-in-three weekend. The Comets led after two periods for the 77th time in their franchise history, and for the first time EVER, they lost the game in regulation, dropping to 72-1-4-0 when leading after 40.
Yeah. You read that right. After you’ve finished cleaning your brains off the walls, carry on with this week’s edition of the Utica Week in Review.

The Games

Friday, March 11th at Rochester: 3 – 1 Loss
After winning three straight games, the Utica Comets were cooled off to the tune of 3-1 by the Rochester Americans Friday night at the Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester. It was the just the second time this season, and the first since the American Hockey League’s opening night, that the Amerks defeated the Comets.
Chris Higgins (1-0-1) and Andrey Pedan (0-1-1) accounted for all the Comets points, while Richard Bachman made 27 saves in the loss.
From the Utica Comets post-game report.
Saturday, March 12th at Albany: 4 – 3 Loss
The Utica Comets rolled into Saturday night’s game versus the Albany Devils at the Times Union Center with an all-time record of 72-0-4-0 when leading after two periods. They left with 72-1-4-0 record in such games when the Albany Devils scored three times in the third period to erase a 2-1 deficit entering the third period.
Chris Higgins (1-0-1), Taylor Fedun (1-0-1), and Darren Archibald (1-0-1) handled the scoring for the Comets, while Joe Cannata made 27 saves in the loss. The Comets penalty-killing unit was a perfect 3-for-3, including killing off a 5-on-3 power play in the first period.
From the Utica Comets post-game report.
Sunday, March 13th Providence: 5 – 3 Win
The Providence Bruins did not provide a highlight package of Sunday’s game, so enjoy a couple of Higgy goals instead:
Chris Higgins first American Hockey League hat trick powered the Utica Comets to a 5-3 win over the Providence Bruins Sunday afternoon at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The Comets regulation win snapped the Bruins 23-game point streak on home ice just two games shy of the American Hockey League’s record.
Chris Higgins (3-0-3), Taylor Fedun (0-2-2), T.J. Hensick (0-2-2), and Alexandre Grenier (1-1-2) collected multi-point nights, while Kellen Jones (1-0-1) picked up the game-winning goal with his first goal with the Comets. Richard Bachman made 32 saves for his 13th win of the season. The Comets special teams were a factor in this game as the power-play converted twice on four opportunities against the third best penalty-killing team in the league. The Comets penalty-killing unit was a perfect 2-for-2 against the league’s top ranked power play unit.
From the Utica Comets post-game report.

Roster Report

The Lines:
Roster Changes:
Following the three games in three nights that the Comets played last weekend, Alex Grenier was called up to the Canucks on Monday, where he played his fourth game in as many nights. Brendan Gaunce was returned to Utica, but following a series of injuries in the Canucks game against Winnipeg, Gaunce was called back up again after being in Utica for only a single night. In addition, Andrey Pedan was called up with him.
These call ups leave rookie defenceman Jordan Subban as the active leading scorer on the Comets, with 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists) in 52 games played. That’s a precarious position to be in for a team in the thick of the AHL playoff race.
The Comets signed forward Kellen Lain to a PTO this week. If the name sounds familiar, it should: he’s the 6-foot-5 centre that lasted 2 seconds into his NHL debut, after he and seven other players were ejected from the game following a line brawl in the infamous “Torts hall tirade” game in January of 2013.
He played 10 games for the Comets last season, and has played 14 games this season for the AHL’s Iowa Wild.
The Comets also signed forward Evan Rankin and defenceman William Wrenn to PTOs, and Milos Bubela to an ATO. The mass of signings is required because of both NHL call ups and a series of injuries at the AHL level.
Injury Update:
Mike Zalewski has not returned since Sam Carrick of the Toronto Marlies took his head off six games ago, and he isn’t expected to return this weekend. Jim Benning revealed on the radio last week that Zalewski suffered a concussion.
Wacey Hamilton is still out with an injury and will not return this weekend. Darren Archibald and John Negrin played last weekend, but will miss the upcoming weekend with injuries. Jon Landry missed all of last weekend, but will return for the upcoming weekend.
Brandon Prust has been shut down for the season with the nagging ankle injury he sustained earlier in the year while playing in Vancouver. It’s a shame, because he was fitting in quite nicely with the Comets, having put up seven points (one goal, six assists) in nine AHL games.

The Stats

Skaters:
#
Player
GP
G
A
P
+/-
Sh
PIM
21
C. Higgins
3
5
0
5
10
2
28
A. Grenier
3
1
3
4
4
0
27
T. Fedun
3
1
2
3
6
4
17
T. Hensick
3
0
3
3
5
2
34
C. Bancks
3
0
2
2
3
5
16
J. LaBate
3
0
2
2
5
0
25
D. Archibald
3
1
0
1
5
7
18
K. Jones
3
1
0
1
5
0
8
A. Friesen
3
0
1
1
4
2
37
A. Pedan
3
0
1
1
4
6
2
T. Ehrhardt
3
0
1
1
3
0
7
J. Subban
3
0
1
1
3
0
15
R. Kenins
3
0
0
0
2
5
24
C. Cassels
3
0
0
0
6
5
13
B. Marino
3
0
0
0
2
0
11
J. Negrin
2
0
0
0
4
0
5
D. Shields
2
0
0
0
3
0
6
A. Sautner
2
0
0
0
3
2
19
G. Hanson
1
0
0
0
2
0
26
†
B. Prust
0
0
0
0
0
0
36
†
W. Hamilton
0
0
0
0
0
0
14
†
M. Zalewski
0
0
0
0
0
0
20
†
J. Landry
0
0
0
0
0
0
10
*
B. Gaunce
0
0
0
0
0
0
† Missed game(s) due to injury/illness; * Missed game(s) due to NHL call up.
Goalies:
#
Goalie
Starts
Record
GA
SA
Sv%
GAA
32
R. Bachman
2
1-1-0
5
63
.921
2.52
35
J. Cannata
1
0-1-0
4
31
.900
4.10
Prospects:
Alex Grenier had a strong weekend, getting points in all three games, including a goal and an assist on Sunday. Grenier has been coming on strong lately, and the addition of T.J. Hensick has certainly helped, as Grenier hasn’t worked with a top line centre since Cal O’Reilly. Grenier, Hensick and Chris Higgins have formed a legitimate first line that the Comets have been lacking all season.
Joe LaBate made his presence known last weekend, grabbing a couple of assists. He’s having a successful rookie season while playing mostly fourth line minutes. He can look to Mike Zalewski, who also played his rookie season after coming out of the college system, as a positive model of progression going into next season.
Alex Friesen, Andrey Pedan, and Jordan Subban each tallied a single assist while playing in all three games.
Team Level:
Utica’s typically strong possession play is beginning to waver in the wake of injuries and call ups. As the team begins to weaken considerably, they are having a harder and harder time keeping up with their opponents. They did manage to outshoot Rochester 31-29, but were outshot 95-80 across the entirety of the weekend.
The Comets went 2-for-10 on the power play, with both goals being scored in the Sunday game (and both scored by Higgins as part of his hat-trick). Utica was a perfect 10-for-10 on the penalty kill. Their PK continues to climb the league rankings and is now seventh overall, with a rate of 85.7 per cent.
Leaders:
Alex Grenier took over the top spot this week, with Gaunce in Vancouver. Of course, this weekend, neither will be in Utica, so Jordan Subban will have an opportunity to catch them both.

Player of the Week

In this week’s edition, it’s impossible to not acknowledge Chris Higgins’ excellent weekend. Higgins scored a goal in each of Friday and Saturday’s games before notching a hat-trick against the Providence Bruins on Sunday.
Higgins is up to nine goals on the season in addition to four assists, giving him 13 points in 21 games. That’s a little low for a guy who’s played over 700 NHL games, and is probably still a viable NHLer, but he certainly seems to be heating up.
Following his demotion, Higgins played primarily with Carter Bancks and Wacey Hamilton, bottom six energy forwards that play a similar style to Higgins, though with much less skill. The Shinkaruk trade, in addition to call ups and injuries, brought Higgins up to the top line, where he actually played centre for a few games. With the addition of Hensick, Higgins is back on the wing, and having a playmaking top line AHL centre has payed dividends for the grizzled veteran.
We’ll want to keep an eye on Higgins here on out. If he continues to gel with Hensick and starts to produce at point per game rate, he may be able to increase his value going into the off season, especially if he can be a difference maker in the Calder Cup playoffs. Higgins still has one year remaining at $2.5 million, and could provide a useful depth option on a variety of different types of teams. Of course, any added value is going to be incremental – the Canucks aren’t suddenly going to get an A prospect for him just because he scored in the American League. That said, getting a late round draft pick is certainly a better result than just buying him out.
(Note: Higgins was called up to the Canucks this morning, so he’ll have further opportunity to restore his value)

Looking Ahead

To the surprise of absolutely no one, the Comets will play yet another three-in-three this weekend, which happens to be their fourth in a row. Thankfully, there will be no travel involved in this one, as the Comets begin a five-game homestand on Friday night. This weekend’s opponents are all divisional rivals, and they’re all below Utica in the standings.
First, they will welcome All-Star Legend John Scott and the St. John’s IceCaps. The IceCaps trail Utica in the North Division by a couple of spots with a record of 27-25-8-3. The two teams have faced off five times so far this season, with the Comets taking three of the games.
(Note: This was written before last night’s game against the IceCaps, which will be covered in next week’s update)
On Saturday the Comets will host the Binghamton Senators, who are dead last in the AHL’s North Division, with a points percentage of 0.444. The Comets have played just three games on their eight-game series against the Senators this season (winning twice), meaning they will have to face them five times in the next four weeks, including tonight. This could prove to be advantageous for the Comets, who desperately need to keep their heads above water – playing a weaker opponent a pile of times should help.
Finally, Sunday will see Jonathan Drouin and the Syracuse Crunch come to town. The Crunch are among the Comets’ chief rivals, and Sunday’s game will be the seventh meeting between the two this season, with Utica winning four of the previous six. The Crunch are sixth in the division and have a fair bit of ground to make up if they want to even think about the playoffs.
(Standings are current to the morning of March 19th, 2016)