CanucksArmy Utica Comets Post-Game: Cardiac Comets Come From Behind, Get 3-2 Overtime Win In Lehigh Valley

4:05 pm Pacific

The 13th overall Utica Comets continued their road trip today, moving on to Lehigh Valley to take on the fifth overall Phantoms. The Comets crested the 50 point level with their win yesterday, bringing them to 51 points, while the Phantoms had 57.

The Comets special teams got a bump after yesterday’s performance as well. Their power-play was ranked sixth, going 38 for 191, while their penalty-kill moved up to fifth overall, having given up 29 goals on 205 kills. The Phantoms’ special teams, however, were not sitting so high. Their power-play was ranked 22nd, having gone 27 for 179, while their penalty-kill sat 23rd, giving up 33 goals over 175 kills.

Reid Boucher was still the Comets points leader with 22 goals and 17 assists to give him 39 points in 35 games. Nikolay Goldobin was up next with seven goals and 20 assists to give him 27 points in 24 games. Philip Holm was third in the Comets’ scoring race with eight goals and 14 assists to give him 22 points in 37 games.

For the Phantoms, Phil Varone was the scoring leader with 11 goals and 32 assists to give him 43 points in 44 games. Greg Carey was next up with 19 goals and 10 assists, good for 29 points in 42 games. T.J. Brennan sat third with nine goals and 20 assists to give him 29 points in 36 games.

The Comets were coming off a 3-1 win over Binghamton, while the Phantoms were coming off a 5-2 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Lehigh Valley had a record of 5-4-0-1 over their previous 10 contests, while the Comets had gone 7-1-2-0 over the same span.

Utica brought a 13-5-3-1 road record into the game, while the Phantoms had a home record of 13-5-2-1. The Comets had outscored their opponents by a count of 127-124 this season, while the Phantoms had outscored their opponents by a 150-141 margin.

Scratched for the Comets today were: Carter Bancks, (injured), Yan-Pavel Laplante, (injured), Jayson Megna, (injured), Brendan Woods, (injured), Griffen Molino, (injured), Evan McEneny, (injured), Tony Cameranesi, Andrew Cherniwchan, David Dziurzynski, and Guillaume Brisebois.

16 Joe LaBate – 21 Michael Chaput – 15 Zack MacEwen

25 Darren Archibald (A) – 19 Cole Cassels – 58 Michael Carcone

24 Reid Boucher – 11 Cam Darcy – 77 Nikolay Goldobin

44 Adam Comrie – 36 Wacey Hamilton (A) – 17 Alexis D’Aoust

6 Ashton Sautner – 8 Dylan Blujus

52 Philip Holm – 26 Jaime Sifers(A)

28 Patrick Wiercioch – 5 Jalen Chatfield

30 Thatcher Demko

Oh boy, this period was not action-packed. By the mid-way point of the period we only had seven shots total, between the two teams, but hey, the video feed was actually watchable, so there’s that.

The period kicked off with Philippe Myers getting in close on Demko and getting a quick wrist shot away, but Demko was ready with the save.

At the other end of the ice, Dylan Blujus let fly with a hard point shot, but Phantoms netminder Dustin Tokarski made the save. The Comets would muster just seven shots total for the period, and Blujus had three of them.

Veteran defenseman, Jaime Sifers turned a puck over in his own end and it led to a pair of quick chances for the Phantoms. Demko made the save on the first chance and the second one was blocked. Reid Boucher quickly cleared the puck out of harm’s way.

Michael “Crazy Legs” Carcone was using his wheels again. The speedy winger buzzed into the Phantoms’ zone, darted behind the net and dished out front to a waiting Darren Archibald. The big fella got a shot off but sent it wide of the target.

Philip Holm tried to pick up his ninth goal when he unloaded with a point shot but saw his offering tipped wide. Jalen Chatfield followed up with a point shot of his own, but Tokarski gloved it down.

Wacey Hamilton is like a dog on a bone when he is playing the defensive side of the puck. His effort level is top notch and is a great example for the Comets’ younger players to follow.

Thatcher Demko wasn’t super busy, but he was good when called upon. Radel Fazleev got a tricky shot away, but Thatcher was equal to the task.

Not long after the Fazleev chance, the Phantoms would go up 1-0 on a goal by Mike Vecchione. Vecchione grabbed a puck from between the feet of Ashton Sautner and beat Demko for his 11th goal of the season. Will O’Neill earned his seventh helper of the season on the play, while Radel Fazleev picked up his ninth.

The Comets had a good shift after the goal, spending a good amount of time in the Phantoms’ zone.

At the other end of the ice, Demko was sharp, making a save on a tipped point shot to keep his team within one.

The Comets were firing pucks, but too many were either shot wide or tipped wide in the opening frame.

Adam Comrie had a big blast, Tokarski made the save and the rebound was cleared. Nicolas Aube-Kubel went the other way and ripped a puck off the iron.

Zack MacEwen did the same at the other end of the ice, getting a good shot away, but hearing it ring off the pipe.

The first period ended with the Phantoms showing an 8-7 advantage on the shot clock.

The second period was a little bit more exciting, but not by a large margin.

Michael Carcone tried to make it interesting early when he came into the Phantoms zone with speed, down the right side boards. He spun around, passing the puck to himself off the boards before feeding Jalen Chatfield in the corner. The puck made it’s way back to Archibald at the point, where he got a good shot off, but Tokarski was there with a save.

Wacey Hamilton sent the puck to Adam Comrie, who dished to Alexis D’Aoust and the winger got a quick backhander away, but Tokarski made the save and froze the puck for a whistle.

Hamilton would tie the game at the three-minute mark. Wacey took the puck hard to the net and buried his own rebound. The goal was Hamilton’s first of the season. Alexis D’Aoust picked up his seventh assist of the season on the play.

Cole Bardreau would take a slashing penalty just 43 seconds later and the Comets would head to the power-play. The Comets power-play would not get anything going and would, in fact, give up a shorthanded chance as Will O’Neill ripped a puck off the bar while down a man.

Joe LaBate took his turn in the box next after being whistled for hooking at the 7:12 mark. The Comets penalty-killers got down to work.

Demko was sharp, making a pad save and then swallowing up a big shot by Greg Carey. The Comets would come up with a good kill.

Nikolay Goldobin and Cam Darcy had a nice chance when Darcy set Goldy up for a shot, but the winger fanned on it.

Michael Carcone and Cole Cassels had a good shift, buzzing around in the Phantoms zone, getting a couple of scoring chances, but were unable to get one to go.

The Comets had another golden chance to go up a goal when there was a big scramble in front of Tokarski, but once again, the Comets could not convert.

Reece Wilcox was sent off for tripping at the 15:35 mark and the Comets would go back to the power-play. Boucher got a one-timer off, but Tokarski whipped out the mitt and denied him.

Oskar Lindblom would get a shorthanded chance and the winger made no mistake. Lindblom beat Demko with a wraparound for a shorthanded goal. It was Lindblom’s 13th of the season. Radel Fazleev earned his 10th helper of the year on the play, while Travis Sanheim picked up his first.

The Comets were unable to get the goal back on what remained of their power-play.

Demko had to come up with two more big saves as the period came to a close. The Comets showed a 15-11 advantage on the shot clock for the middle frame.

The third period got underway and we saw Michael Chaput feed a nice cross-ice pass to Philip Holm, who sent a shot on net that was quickly stopped and held for a whistle.

Jaime Sifers missed a massive chunk of this season with a broken wrist, and the grizzled veteran was starting to get his feet back under him as this game wore on. Sifers is not a large man, but he can throw a hit, dropping Phil Varone twice with consecutive hits in the Comets’ zone.

Ashton Sautner got a nice wrist shot through traffic, but Tokarski was ready with a save. Sautner continues to have a solid if unspectacular season.

Reid Boucher was looking for a goal, trying to tie Darren Archibald for the Comets’ single-season goals record of 23. The sharp-shooting winger got a quick wrist shot off, but Tokarski was quicker with the leather, gloving down the Boucher offering.

The Phantoms saw Demko get beat with a wraparound goal earlier, and they would try for another one as Mike Vecchione gave it a whirl, but this time, there would be no beating Demko.

Archibald stripped a Phantom player of the puck in the neutral zone and got it to Carcone. Carcone dished back to Archibald, who sent a puck on net, but Tokarski made the save.

The goal posts and cross-bars were prevalent in this one. Demko was saved by his little red buddies once again when Greg Carey sent Nicolas Aube-Kubel in alone. Kubel beat Demko, but not the iron and the Comets were still within one.

Demko wasn’t about to let his posts do all the work though as he made a save on a point shot blast and covered up for a whistle.

Carcone and Archibald were at it again, this time going in on a two-on-one. Carcone dished to Archibald and the big winger tipped the puck wide of the net. That was a theme for the Comets today, plenty of shots going wide.

The teams had some good back and forth in the third frame. Demko made a blocker save in the Comets end and the puck quickly went the other way. Alexis D’Aoust wheeled into the Phantoms’ zone and got a shot off. Tokarski made the save and then Chatfield got the puck for a chance that was also turned aside.

Greg Carey came back the other way and ripped another shot off the iron. Demko breathed a sigh of relief and quickly made a point-blank save off of the stick of Cole Bardreau. He followed that save up with another one as Travis Sanheim set up shop for another point-blank shot from the slot. Thatcher flashed the leather to keep his team in it.

The Comets were doing everything they could to tie this game. Boucher took a feed from Cam Darcy and got a shot off, Tokarski denied him. Goldobin sent a wrister on the net right off a faceoff, once again, Tokarski said no. Boucher got another shot off after what was an extended shift, but the puck was tipped out of play.

With less than two minutes left, Thatcher Demko absolutely robbed Aube-Kubel on a backhand chance for his biggest save of the day to keep the Comets’ hopes alive.

The Phantoms took their timeout with 1:38 left, which gave the Comets a bit of a rest as well.

Demko was summoned to the bench for the extra attacker with 1:22 left and the Comets went to work. Reid Boucher sent a puck to Chaput at the point, and Chaput did well to hold the line before spotting Philip Holm. Chaput made the pass, Holm unloaded a point shot and the game was tied with less than a minute remaining. Nice work Philip.

The third period ended with the Comets showing a 10-8 advantage on the shot clock and we were off to overtime.

This one ended pretty quickly. The Comets went for the kill at the 1:11 mark of the extra frame when Patrick Wiercioch and Wacey Hamilton went in on a two-on-one. Wiercioch jumped up into the play and fed Hamilton and the veteran buried his second of the game and second of the season. For Wiercioch, it was assist number 12 of the season.

That was it in Lehigh Valley, the Comets go into the All-Star break coming off a 3-2 overtime win.

The Three Stars in the building today were:

3rd Star: Philip Holm. Game tying goal.

2nd Star: Thatcher Demko. 25 saves.

1st Star: Wacey Hamilton. Two goals, game winner in OT.

3rd Star: Thatcher Demko. This was not Thatcher’s busiest game, he only had to make 25 saves for the win. He was, however, very sharp in this game to keep the Comets in it. Demko made a handful of great saves and his posts were busy tonight as well. At the end of the day, it was another win for Thatcher, his 17th of the season, and fourth in a row. Demko has gone 9-1-2 over his last 12 starts, and he can go into the All-Star Game festivities fresh off another win.

2nd Star: Philip Holm. Holm got the game-tying goal to send this one to overtime. It was Holm’s ninth goal and 23rd point of the season. He has played well for the Comets this season and has probably earned some games with the Canucks down the stretch. Now, if only Jim Benning would put his trading hat on so we can get Holm to Vancouver for a look see.

1st Star: Wacey Hamilton: Hamilton is not known for his offensive prowess, he is more of a meat and potatoes player who shows up with his lunch bucket and gets down to work. Hamilton has been a great player for the Comets’ younger players to learn from. The man doesn’t take a shift off and gives an honest effort on a nightly basis. Hamilton’s two goals today were his first two of the season, to go along with his five assists. If you are going to score, you may as well make it a game-winner, right?