CanucksArmy Utica Comets Post-Game: Comets Come Out Flat In Middle Frame, Drop 4-2 Decision to Syracuse

Game #43

Utica Comets at Syracuse Crunch

Monday, January 20th, 2020

1:00 pm Eastern/10:00 am Pacific

95 Justin Bailey – 9 Lukas Jasek – 13 Kole Lind

77 Nikolay Goldobin – 19 Carter Camper – 24 Reid Boucher (A)

17 Seamus Malone – 16 John Stevens – 15 Zack MacEwen (A)

21 Jonah Gadjovich – 34 Carter Bancks (C) – 74 Tanner Sorenson

3 Stefan LeBlanc – 5 Jalen Chatfield

48 Olli Juolevi – 6 Ashton Sautner

4 Josh Teves – 52 Mitch Eliot

31 Zane McIntyre

64 Mikey DiPietro (backing up)

The opening frame didn’t see any scoring, but we had some nice back and forth action and a few big saves.

Jalen Chatfield got things started off with an early shot that was denied by netminder Scott Wedgewood before John Stevens showed a smart stick to break up a Syracuse play at the other end.

The back and forth continued as Jonah Gadjovich and Carter Bancks did some great work on the forecheck and Carter Camper followed up with a shot that Wedgewood got a blocker on.

Seamus Malone has looked solid on the wing in a forechecker’s role and he swallowed a hit to make a play before a Jalen Chatfield shot hit Zack MacEwen on its way to the net. TheBigFella didn’t let that phase him as he showed mid-season form with a nifty play from the net-side to get a shot away that was denied by Wedgewood.

Zane McIntyre hadn’t been busy to this point, but he came up with a bobby-dazzler of a stop on Dennis Yan from point-blank. The Comets netminder followed up with another save from in close on Mathieu Joseph before gloving down the Gemel Smith offering that followed.

Josh Teves hasn’t had an easy time of staying in the lineup this season, but he showed some nice work to take Cory Conacher off the puck without taking a penalty in the Comets end. He came up with another nice play, showing a smart stick to poke the puck out of the Comets’ end soon after.

Zack MacEwen was back in the lineup today and he was caught with a solid hit by Patrick Sieloff but he stayed in the play.

At the other end, Dominik Masin let fly with a shot off the left side with a crowd in front of McIntyre. That same crowd kept the puck from getting through and the score remained knotted at zero.

Jonah Gadjovich drew a hooking call on Devante Stephens and the Comets were off to the power play.

Olli Juolevi had a big shot swallowed up before Goldy fed Kole Lind for a shot that was sent wide of the net. The Comets had some good puck movement but were unable to take advantage.  The second unit took over and Mitch Eliot had a shot tipped by MacEwen but Wedgewood was there with the save. He followed up with a stop on Camper and the Comets came up empty.

Kole Lind has done a fantastic job of forcing turnovers in all three zones this year and he was at it again today when he did so in the offensive zone, but the Comets were unable to make something happen. The Crunch went the other way and McIntyre froze the puck as it wobbled to his crease.

The teams traded chances as Lind sent a sweet feed to Lukas Jasek for a chance that Wedgewood turned aside before McIntyre stymied Gemel Smith at the other end. Lind was dinged for hooking on the play and the Comets were off to the kill.

Olli Juolevi came up with a big shot block and Ashton Sautner cleared the zone and the Comets had a good kill but were dinged for having too many men on the ice soon after.

McIntyre had to come up with a pair of saves as Ross Colton took the puck through his crease and tried to stuff it past him and the Comets killed that one off as well.

As time wound down, we saw Jalen Chatfield show some fantastic second effort to wobble his way through the Crunch zone but he couldn’t get a shot away. The period finished with a Kole Lind offering being fired off the glove of Wedgewood.

Utica showed a 10-7 advantage on the shot clock in the opening frame.

The Comets found themselves with some penalty trouble in the middle frame and ended up down 2-0 by the time the period ended.

Zane McIntyre had to come up with an alert save early as Gemel Smith took the puck to the net. Cameron Gaunce followed up with a chance that McIntyre turned aside as well.

As mentioned earlier, Josh Teves was making some noticeable plays today and he came up with one of those to knock the puck down in the neutral zone to give the Comets possession.

Seamus Malone tried to wheel into the Syracuse end with the puck but found a brick wall named Patrick Sieloff waiting for him at the blueline and Seamus was looking up at the lights. The shifty winger would stay in the game.

There was some back and forth without a whole lot of action before Jalen Chatfield went deep into the corner with the puck and tried to find Kole Lind in the crease but Wedgewood was there with the save.

Josh Teves followed up by forcing another turnover in his own end, but unfortunately, the Crunch retook possession and Syracuse went up 1-0 on a Boris Katchouk tally. The goal was Katchouk’s 10th of the year, while Alex Barre-Boulet earned his 20th assist of the season on the play and Ben Thomas grabbed his 11th.

McIntyre followed up the Katchouk goal with a save on Gaunce before Teves took a shot from Dennis Yan and used that opportunity to make another impression on the coaching staff as the two men threw down. Kudos to Teves for fighting his own battle against the larger Katchouk. The Comets ended up with a power-play as Katchouk was given an extra two minutes for his transgression that ruffled the feathers of Teves.

Boucher ripped a quick shot off the iron before Bailey broke in down the left side with speed and put the puck on the net and Wedgewood had another save. The Crunch broke out two-on-one the other way and Gaunce hit the post. The Comets power play came up empty and nearly gave up a shorty.

Gemel Smith soon found himself with a breakaway and McIntyre denied him once more, but Ashton Sautner was whistled for a hook on the play and it was back to the penalty kill for Utica. The Comets netminder made a save through traffic before gloving down another shot from Gaunce.

Carter Bancks came up with a shot block, as is his way, before Alex Volkov tipped a shot on net that McIntyre denied. The Comets came up with a good kill.

The Crunch kept it coming as McIntyre had to make a sprawling save with traffic forming before the Comets went the other way where Camper found Boucher with a pass out of the corner but Wedgewood was there with another save.

The game froze up on me for a couple of minutes at this point and when it came back up, Zack MacEwen had a chance blocked on its way to the net. Seamus Malone followed up with a backhander that was denied before Volkov put Syracuse up 2-0 when Ashton Sautner wasn’t able to hold the offensive blueline and the Crunch had a three-on-oh the other way.

The goal was Volkov’s fifth of the year, while Gemel Smith earned his 15th helper of the season on the play. That one stung in the late going.

Kole Lind was looking to get that one back but Wedgewood was able to shut down a pair of chances from him. Josh Teves continued to do good work when he put his man offside at the defensive blue line. He wasn’t flawless today, by any means, but Teves had some good moments for a guy who has a hard time finding minutes this season.

Stefan LeBlanc was whistled for a high-stick at the 18:45 mark and the Comets would finish the period shorthanded. Lukas Jasek had a shorthanded chance turned aside and John Stevens came up with a pair of shot blocks before the buzzer sounded to end the period.

The Crunch showed an edge of 12-5 in shots for the middle frame as the Comets were unable to muster many offensive opportunities.

The Comets came into the final frame down 2-0 and with time remaining on LeBlanc’s penalty. Fortunately for Utica, Alex Volkov was sent off for interference just 33 seconds in and the teams had some brief four aside play before the Comets had a power play to work with.

Bailey and Goldy worked a passing play that nearly ended up with the Comets pulling to within a goal, but Wedgewood gloved the puck down. Zack MacEwen followed up with a shot from the high slot that bounced around before Wedgewood spotted it and covered for a whistle. MacEwen kept the pressure on with a physical shift before Otto Somppi got a shot away at the other end that McIntyre gobbled up.

Alex Barre-Boulet let fly with a shot of his own and McIntyre said no.

I have been talking about some of the good things that Josh Teves did today, but he also had some rough moments as well. One of those was when he was pressured by Alex Volkov behind the Comets net and coughed up the puck, but to his credit, Teves stayed with him and returned the favour and the Comets went the other way where Reid Boucher was denied from in close, as was Goldobin with his follow-up chance.

Jalen Chatfield continued to have an active game in the offensive zone, but he wasn’t able to provide any actual offence for his efforts.

Olli Juolevi was having a hot and cold day today as he would do something pretty good on one shift and something less than good on his next. I guess that is what it looks like as he learns the league while working his way back from some injuries that have hampered his ability to go 100% all out. One of the good moments for him today came on a nice outlet pass to Lukas Jasek, who fed Bailey for a shot that was put off the target.

Mitch Eliot was also in the lineup today and as I have mentioned in previous post-game reports, he is adept at getting shots through and enjoys the physical going in his own end. It was a play of the latter variety that saw him dish out a heavy hit on Danick Martel as he tried to enter the Comets’ zone.

Tanner Sorenson hasn’t been piling up points with the Comets this year as he has just one assist in his 10 games with the team, but he has been pretty handy at drawing penalties. He did just that when his work in the offensive zone was enough for Devante Stephens to chop him down for a slashing call.

The Comets had some good puck movement but came up empty once again.

The Stevens line followed up the power play with a good shift in the offensive zone but they were unable to alter the score.

At the other end, Ben Thomas had a shot kicked out by McIntyre as some back and forth broke out. Justin Bailey stole the puck in the offensive zone and got a shot away that was denied before TheShaunavonShiftDisturber got scrummy after the whistle, as is his way.

The Crunch followed up with a chance at the other end as Cory Conacher hammered a shot on net that McIntyre denied. Goldobin went the other way for a chance and once again, Wedgewood said no. Goldy followed up with a feed in tight to Boucher in the left circle for another shot but Wedgewood was there with another save. On the ensuing faceoff, Boucher pounced on a loose puck and Wedgewood denied him once more.

This next goal was kind of ugly as Alex Barre-Boulet was allowed to walk right in and let one fly for his 17th goal of the season. Olli Juolevi just kept backing up and taking the wrong man while letting Barre-Boulet cruise in for his shot as the Crunch went up 3-0. Patrick Sieloff picked up his third assist of the year on the play, while Ross Colton earned his 19th.

The Comets nearly got back into this game with the help of two of their more unlikely sources as LeBlanc and Sorenson worked a play but LeBlanc’s pass attempt went off of a skate and out of Sorenson’s reach.

At the other end, Colton fired from the right circle and McIntyre stopped and covered the puck as the Crunch were pressing. That seemed to help a little as the Comets changed up their lines and we saw Bancks hit Malone in tight but the shot didn’t get through. No matter, however, as Jonah Gadjovich pulled his team to within a pair seconds later with his 10th goal of the season.

This one saw a nice pinch from Josh Teves and he just threw the puck to the net where Jonah banged it in. Of Gadjovich’s 10 goals this season, I am betting that nine of them have been scored from within a few feet of the crease. He is tough to handle in front of the net. Teves grabbed his second helper of the year on the play, while Carter Bancks earned his sixth.

The Comets had some life from the Gadjovich goal.

Gemel Smith was sent off for slashing 1:25 later and the Comets were off to the power play. It didn’t even take 20 seconds for Reid Boucher to pull his team to within a goal when Justin Bailey set him up with a nice pass for his 24th goal of the season. Bailey grabbed his 14th helper of the year, while Olli Juolevi earned his 19th. Olli had an up and down game today. That feed from Bailey though…

The Comets had… more life.

The Comets headed right back to the power play as John Stevens drew a holding penalty on Boris Katchouk at the 15:53 mark. The first power-play unit had good puck movement again, but there was nothing doing and the second unit fared no better as the Comets laid an egg with the extra man while they had some momentum.

Katchouk exited the penalty box and had a clumsy break to the net that saw him get a muffin of a shot away while falling and McIntyre was there with the save.

Trent Cull sent out two-thirds of the Bailey, Jasek, Lind unit as John Stevens took Lukas’ place in the middle for the defensive zone draw. Ross Colton had a chance denied before McIntyre was summoned to the bench with 1:18 remaining.

Gemel Smith had four shots on goal today and it was the one without a goaltender in the net that earned him his 16th goal of the season into a yawning cage. Conacher picked up his 22nd assist of the year on the play, while Alex Volkov earned his 16th.

That was pretty much it for this one as the Comets were unable to complete the comeback even though they outshot Syracuse 13-10 in the final frame. The Crunch showed a 29-28 advantage for the game.

Zane McIntyre: 25 saves on 28 shots in the loss.

Power Play: 1/6

Penalty Kill: 4/4

PP1: Boucher, Goldobin, Bailey, Lind, Juolevi.

PP2: MacEwen, Camper, Gadjovich, Jasek, Eliot.

Penalty Killers: Bancks, Stevens, Boucher, Goldobin, MacEwen, Jasek, Sautner, Juolevi, LeBlanc, Chatfield.

3rd Star: Scott Wedgewood. 26 saves for the win.

2nd Star: Boris Katchouk. One goal.

1st Star: Alex Barre-Boulet. One goal, one assist.

3rd Star: Kole Lind. While he didn’t add to his point totals today, I thought that Lind was doing nice work to try to make plays for his line. He finished the game with four shots on goal to tie Reid Boucher for the Comets’ lead. He forced some turnovers and had a relatively solid outing today even if the points didn’t follow.

2nd Star: Josh Teves. Teves hasn’t had an easy time finding regular minutes in Utica this year but I thought that he acquitted himself fairly well today. He was forcing turnovers in all three zones and picked up an assist on the Gadjovich tally after making a smart pinch on the play. He also dropped the gloves when he felt that he needed to and stuck up for himself after a hit that he didn’t like.

1st Star: Jonah Gadjovich. Jonah does what he can with what he has and today that meant adding his 10th goal of the season on yet another play where he was set up in his office just outside the blue paint of the goaltender’s crease. When I played goal, guys like Jonah would be taking some vicious whacks in the back of the ankles for standing in my crease and I am sure that Jonah takes his share of those as well. It’s all part of the job when you make your living within a few feet of the opposition’s net. Jonah now has 13 points in 28 games this year and has become the sixth player on the club to hit double digits in goals this season.

Game #44

Binghamton Devils at Utica Comets

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020

7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific