CanucksArmy Utica Comets Post-Game: Boucher Returns With Three Goals And The Comets Take Down Syracuse 5-2

Game #15

Utica Comets at Syracuse Crunch

Friday, November 15th, 2019

7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific

 77 Nikolay Goldobin – 36 Wacey Hamilton (A) – 24 Reid Boucher (A)

95 Justin Bailey – 9 Lukas Jasek – 13 Kole Lind

17 Seamus Malone – 27 Francis Perron – 34 Carter Bancks (C)

18 Vincent Arseneau – 14 Justin Taylor – 26 Dyson Stevenson

 6 Ashton Sautner – 5 Jalen Chatfield

55 Guillaume Brisebois – 25 Brogan Rafferty

8 Dylan Blujus – 52 Mitch Eliot

31 Zane McIntyre

64 Michael DiPietro (backing up)

We had a pretty good period of hockey in the opening frame as each team ended up scoring a goal on the power play.

Reid Boucher was back in the lineup for this one and he made his presence felt early after drawing a penalty shot just 42 seconds in after being hauled down by Luke Witkowski. Boucher went in and tried his move but goaltender Spencer Martin was ready with the save.

At the other end, Ross Colton had his shot stopped by Zane McIntyre, who was seeing his first start against the Crunch this season. The Comets netminder quickly followed up with another save for good measure.

We had some back and forth before the line of Justin Bailey, Lukas Jasek, and Kole Lind did great work to force a turnover at the Syracuse blue line and followed up with a relentless forechecking shift.

Back in the Comets’ zone, Guillaume Brisebois muscled his man off the puck to force another turnover in the Comets favour. The Crunch came back in and McIntyre gloved down a Cameron Gaunce offering through traffic.

Brogan Rafferty has been having a very nice rookie campaign so far in Utica and you can see that he is becoming more comfortable on the ice. He took an extra second or two to draw his man toward him before dishing the puck out of the Comets’ end with a crisp pass. Plays like that show poise and confidence from the first-year blueliner.

Kole Lind was lined up with Lukas Jasek toady and the pair tried to work a backdoor play but Lukas put his shot off the target. He followed up with another chance and Martin was there with another save with a sliding stop.

The turnovers kept coming as Seamus Malone forced his man to cough one up to Frankie Perron for a chance in close that was denied by Martin. Vinny Arseneau and Dyson Stevenson enjoy the rough going and they closed former Comets’ forward Cory Conacher off along the boards with a sandwich play.

McIntyre had to be sharp to shut down a shot riffled by Alex Barre-Boulet before Malone went back the other way and drew a slashing call on Conacher.

The Comets rolled out Kole Lind, Justin Bailey, Reid Boucher, Nikolay Goldobin, and Brogan Rafferty. It took Boucher all of four seconds to put the good guys up 1-0 with his 11th of the season. Kole Lind earned the lone assist for his eighth helper of the year after winning a faceoff off the skate of a Syracuse player right to Boucher.

Just the way Kole planned it… probably.

The Comets kept it coming as Martin had to make a pair of saves on Arseneau and Mitch Eliot to keep his team in the game. Conacher wasn’t helping things when he was sent off for holding a little over a minute after the Boucher tally.

It was the Comets with the man advantage, but it would be McIntyre coming up with the big save as he stymied Mitchell Stephens on a shorthanded breakaway. Goldy had a shot tipped wide by Lind before the second unit of Perron, Eliot, Brisebois, Arseneau, and Malone took over for the brief amount of time remaining. The Comets came up empty.

Ashton Sautner was dinged for slashing at the 16:39 mark and Syracuse was off to the power play. Bancks, Hamilton, Chatfield, and Blujus started this one off before Bailey, Jasek, and Brisebois managed to spell off their men.

Unfortunately, Alex Barre-Boulet ripped one past McIntyre from the left circle to knot the game at one. The goal was Barre-Boulet’s eighth of the season, while Cameron Gaunce picked up his 12th assist of the year on the play and Chris Mueller grabbed his seventh.

Less than 10 seconds later, Lukas Jasek was sent off for a slash and the Comets were right back to the kill. Bancks, Hamilton, Sautner, and Chatfield did their thing to start things off before Boucher, Bailey, Brisebois, and Blujus took over and killed this off.

 

That was it for the opening frame. The Comets held a 10-6 advantage on the shot clock for the first period.

Your first-period shot map:

Well, the opening frame saw each team grab a power-play goal. In the middle frame, they each scored another and the Comets also added a pair at even strength to take a 4-2 lead into the third period.

Wacey Hamilton was playing between Goldobin and Boucher… not his usual role on the team, but he did nice work to slide off a check in the offensive zone before dishing a nice feed to Goldobin in the left circle. Martin kicked aside the Goldobin offering.

The stripes had no choice but to call Boucher for delay of game when he fired the puck out of play in his own end. Jasek, Bancks, Sautner, and Chatfield started the kill off and Bancks came up with a timely shot block on a Barre-Boulet offering. Hamilton, Bailey, Brisebois, and Blujus came next to keep the kill going.

Cal Foote let fly with a shot through traffic that was tracked down by McIntyre for another save before Jasek and Bailey finished the kill off with Chatfield and Sautner.

Boucher was barely out of the box before Goldobin teed up a one-timer for him that was kicked aside by Martin. Goldy kept the passes coming when he fed Brisebois for a chance in the left circle that was also denied. At the other end, McIntyre had to swallow up a Danick Martel chance and he held for the whistle.

Mitch Eliot has been having a solid start to his rookie campaign and he showed a smart play to break up a Syracuse chance in his end before getting a shot through traffic at the other. Martin was there with another save.

Nolan Valleau had his chance through traffic denied by McIntyre and the teams settled into some back and forth for a shift or two

The Crunch must have had some sort of issue with counting in this game as they took their first of three too-many-men penalties of the game at the 7:23 mark.

Seamus Malone, Frankie Perron, Vinny Arseneau, Guillaume Brisebois, and Mitch Eliot were the first group out. We saw BigVinny blow up his man with a big hit behind the Syracuse net and that led to a Crunch giveaway right to Perron for a chance that was gloved down by Martin. Not to be deterred, Arseneau managed to draw an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Martel and the Comets had a two-man advantage for almost a minute.

Bailey, Boucher, Lind, Goldobin, and Rafferty took over and Boucher had a chance denied. The Comets came up empty on the five-on-three. Walcott found himself with enough room for a shorthanded one-timer and McIntyre came up with another save. The Comets, well, they came up empty at five-on-four as well.

This was an up and down game for Mitch Eliot, but he showed good hustle in his own end to make the right play to get the puck out. Soon after, Syracuse was dinged for their second delay of game penalty.

Boucher came with a one-time bomb that was blocked by Dominik Masin and the Syracuse defender limped back to the bench.

Kole Lind has been having a very solid second season with the Comets. He came into this game with three goals and seven helpers, giving him 10 points through 14 games. He picked up an assist on the first Boucher goal in this one and added a goal of his own to bring himself to 12 points in 15 games this year. Lind had five goals and 12 assists to give himself 17 points through 51 games in his rookie campaign last year with the Comets.

His goal today came when he redirected a Goldobin shot past Martin to put the Comets up 2-1. For Goldy, it was assist number 11 on the season, while Brogan Rafferty earned his eighth.

Just under a minute later, Seamus Malone would give the Crunch a chance to get back into this one when he was sent off for holding at the 14:01 mark.

It was the usual suspects on the penalty kill but this time, the Crunch would be able to even things at two when Boris Katchouk beat McIntyre for his fourth goal of the season. Ross Colton picked up his eighth helper of the year on the play, while Taylor Raddysh grabbed his fourth.

It would take Reid Boucher just over a minute to get that one back and put the Comets back up by a goal when he beat Martin from a terrible angle. Goalscorers score because they are not afraid to shoot the puck. I think a few other Comets could learn something from that Boucher goal. Goldy grabbed his 12th assist of the season on the play, while Mitch Eliot picked up his second. Eliot is now up to half a point per game in his first six AHL contests.

It wasn’t long after when Vincent Arseneau and Luke Witkowski decided to try each other on for size. There were several punches thrown, most of which bounced off the windshield of the opponent and both men were given five-minute fighting majors.

Less than 20 seconds later, Carter Bancks was the beneficiary of a nice Frankie Perron feed and he put the Comets up 4-2. The goal was the third of the season for Bancks, while Perron grabbed his seventh helper of the year and Ashton Sautner earned his third.

The Crunch didn’t want to just let the Comets walk away with this one as Blujus had to make a diving play in the late going to break up a Syracuse play before Perron stole a puck and dished to Bancks for another chance. The captain was denied his second of the game.

Alex Volkov was whistled for a high-stick at the 19:02 mark and Utica would finish the period up a man. The Comets finished the middle frame up 11-8 on the shot clock for the period.

Your second-period shot map:

We didn’t see as much action in terms of goals for the final frame, but we did see a different goaltender manning the cage for Syracuse as Scott Wedgewood had taken over for Spencer Martin.

The Comets were still on the power play and Goldy tried to start the period off with a goal but had his shot blocked by Ben Thomas. The Comets power play came up empty.

Seamus Malone was back in action today and he looked like he was going to score his first of the season when he was sent in for a chance but the puck rolled up on edge and he fired his offering wide. Malone would end up not being able to finish the period, so it will be interesting to see what the Comets do if he can’t go tomorrow. The team currently only has 12 healthy forwards including Malone.

Kole Lind was looking for his second goal of the game when he whipped out a nifty move near the Syracuse blue line before burying his shot into the belly of Wedgewood. The Comets kept it coming as Bailey stole a puck and used a spin and fire play but put his shot off the side of the net.

Wedgewood would come up with a blocker save before McIntyre came up with a save of his own at the other end.

We saw eight penalties handed out in the middle frame and the officials must have been in a giving mood because they handed out seven more in the third.

Mitch Eliot was the latest culprit, heading off for a high-stick. The Comets did great work on the kill as Boucher and Jasek got in for a shorthanded chance but Boucher put his pass into the feet of Jasek. McIntyre shut down an Alex Volkov chance with the wave of a blocker and the Comets had another good kill in the books.

The Comets netminder came up with another save soon after on Martel before Jalen Chatfield was dinged for a high-stick. Back to the kill for Utica.

Dennis Yan had a net side chance denied by McIntyre before Boucher and Jasek had another shorthanded chance. Once again they were unable to convert. At the other end, Boucher came up with a good takeaway and cleared the puck from the Comets zone and Syracuse took their third too many men penalty of the game.

Syracuse had a shorthanded chance on this one that was broken up by a sharp play by Rafferty before the rookie netminder had to help foil another. At the other end, Arseneau had a chance denied before he was sent off for interference. Back to the kill once again.

Carter Bancks did great work on this kill before McIntyre had to shut down a net side play by Chris Mueller. The Comets came up with another good kill.

Danick Martel was sent off for roughing at the 13:44 mark and the Comets power play got another swing at improving. Kole Lind took a puck off the foot and limped his way to the bench. He returned, but that will be something to keep an eye on for tomorrow’s game.

Frankie Perron coughed up the puck while trying to exit his own end but was bailed out by the terrible play attempted by the Crunch. Mitch Eliot was off to the box for the second time of the period when he was whistled for a high-stick at the 14:48 mark and it was off to four aside action.

Carter Bancks nearly put the Comets up 5-2 when Syracuse couldn’t decide who should try carrying the puck out of their end and they pretty much handed it to the Comets captain to do what he pleased but nothing came of the play.

Lukas Jasek had a shot knocked down by Wedgewood before the Syracuse goaltender was summoned to the bench for an extra attacker with four minutes remaining on the clock and a brief power play underway.

Three seconds later, Reid Boucher had his third of the game and 13th of the season. The shorthanded, empty-net marker was unassisted. The Comets followed up by killing off the Eliot minor.

Syracuse didn’t look like they were giving up as McIntyre gloved down a wrister before gobbling up another and holding for a whistle.

At the other end, Dyson Stevenson was blown up along the boards with a big hit but he was able to bounce right back up. Guillaume Brisebois followed up with a point shot that was kicked out by Wedgewood.

The game ended with a bit of a strange call as Wacey Hamilton took a stick in the mumbles as he came through the neutral zone. No call was made. Hamilton got his own stick up behind the Crunch net and was sent off for high-sticking and as his man had sprung a leak, it would be a double minor.

No matter as this one was over. The Comets steered the game home for the 5-2 win. Syracuse outshot Utica 9-8 in the final frame but the Comets had a 29-23 edge for the game.

Your third-period shot map:

Power Play: 2/8

Penalty Kill: 7/9

PP Units:

Lind, Bailey, Boucher, Goldobin, Rafferty.

Arseneau, Malone, Perron, Eliot, Brisebois.

Perron, Malone, Arseneau, Brisebois, Sautner.

Penalty Killers:

Bancks, Hamilton, Boucher, Jasek, Bailey, Blujus, Brisebois, Chatfield, Sautner, Rafferty.

3rd Star: Boris Katchouk. One goal.

2nd Star: Nikolay Goldobin: Two assists.

3rd Star: Reid Boucher. Three goals.

3rd Star: Zane McIntyre. He wasn’t super busy, but McIntyre gave his team a chance to win today. He made 21 saves for the win and now sits with a record of 6-2-0-0 on the season while posting a 2.43 GAA and a 0.925% save percentage. That kind of netminding, combined with what the team has been getting from Mikey DiPietro will go along way to getting the Comets to the playoffs this season.

2nd Star: Francis Perron. I recorded an episode of Canucks Conversation, (@CanucksConvo) today with Chris Faber, (@ChrisFaber39) and he asked me which players I thought would need to step up in the absence of guys like Tyler Graovac and Zack MacEwen now that they’ve been called up. The first name that came to mind for me was Perron. I had read about him being a streaky player after he was acquired in an offseason trade and that has proven correct so far. It was nice to see Perron pick up a point today and the pass that earned him that point was a beauty that took vision Keep it up, Frankie.

1st Star: Reid Boucher. Reid missed five games with a lower-body injury but there was no rust to be seen as he finished the game with three goals and was credited with six shots on net to lead the game. Is scoring a five-on-five goal, a power-play goal, and a shorthanded, empty-net goal in a game called the Reid Boucher hatty? If it isn’t, maybe it should be. Boucher is now up to 13 goals and three assists to give himself 16 points in 10 games this season. That puts him on pace for… well, a whole whack of points. The fact that nobody has been scoring for the Comets in a few games and Boucher ripped one from a ridiculously bad angle, hopefully, a few of his teammates took notice and follow suit. They don’t all have to be pretty, they only have to count.

The Comets are back in action tomorrow when they welcome the Rochester Americans for game number 16 at 7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific. As always, CanucksArmy will have your pre and post-game reading.