CanucksArmy Utica Comets Post-Game: Comets Lose Kero, MacEwen, and Malone To Injuries As Their Playoff Hopes Circle The Drain After 6-2 Loss To Syracuse

Game #70

At Syracuse Crunch

Saturday, March 30th,  2019

7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific

16 Brendan Gaunce – 11 Cam Darcy – 15 Zack MacEwen

20 Tom Pyatt – 10 Tanner Kero – 24 Reid Boucher

19 Seamus Malone – 21 Brendan Woods (A) – 9 Lukas Jasek

34 Carter Bancks (C) – 14 Reid Gardiner – 28 Kyle Thomas

38 Matt Petgrave – 26 Jaime Sifers (A)

64 Jesse Graham – 39 Colton Saucerman

3 Stefan LeBlanc – 8 Dylan Blujus

33 Marek Mazanec

49 Michael Leighton (backing up)

Oh boy, folks…this period got off to a pretty nice start for the Comets, but things would unravel as time clicked off the clock.

The opening frame was a feisty one and we saw Hubert Labrie hit Tanner Kero up high early and that hit led to Kero leaving the ice with the trainer and he did not return.

Colton Saucerman was having none of that high hit and stepped in for his teammate to challenge Labrie to a good old fashioned tilt. There were a few fists clanging off of helmets and visors before Saucerman wrestled Labrie to the ice.

By the time the smoke had cleared, Labrie was given an extra two minutes for elbowing Kero.

It took Seamus Malone all of six seconds to put the Comets up 1-0 with his third goal in just his sixth game with the Comets on a one-timer that was teed up for him by Tom Pyatt. The assist was Pyatt’s 10th of the season, while Brendan Gaunce grabbed his 20th.

It didn’t take long after the Malone tally for Brendan Woods and Andy Andreoff to throw down with a quick tilt of their own. This one ended quickly with a few punches thrown, but more wrestling than anything else. Both men would be given five for fighting.

With Kero out, the lines were in the blender for the rest of the game.

Jaime Sifers came up with a big hit in the Comets end before Brady Brassart decked Zack MacEwen with a hit of his own. The physical play was an ongoing thing in the opening frame.

Marek Mazanec hadn’t seen much action to this point, but he was able to shut down a Cal Foote one-timer before a brief scrum ensued between Cory Conacher and Jaime Sifers.

Lukas Jasek drew a tripping penalty on Carter Verhaeghe at the 3:48 mark and it was back to the power play for Utica. Trent Cull elected to run with his all-forward unit from yesterday to kick things off and we saw Pyatt and MacEwen both denied by goaltender Atte Tolvanen. The Comets would come up empty.

Matt Petgrave came up with a solid shot block to foil an odd-man rush before Carter Verhaeghe made up for his penalty with his 30th goal of the year to tie the game at one. Cal Foote grabbed his 19th helper of the year on the play, while Dominik Masin earned his ninth.

Less than 20 seconds later, the Comets were on the penalty kill when Stefan LeBlanc was whistled for an elbow. Three seconds later, the Crunch were up 2-1 after Gabriel Dumont put a backhander past Mazanec for his 13th goal of the year. Taylor Raddysh picked up the lone assist on the play for his 25th helper of the season.

TheBigFella followed up the goal by breaking into the offensive zone and whipping out all of the moves to beat the defence but put his shot over the net. Tolvanen came back with another save through traffic before Dylan Blujus blew up Alex Volkov with a hit that was deemed worthy of an interference penalty by the officials. The Comets were back to the kill.

Cal Foote had his shot from the point gloved down by Mazanec before MacEwen had his shorthanded redirect turned aside by Tolvanen at the other end. Mazanec had to shut down another pair of chances before the Comets had another good kill in the books.

Syracuse kept the pressure coming with Mazanec making another save through traffic before a brief scrum ensued after Brady Brassart took an extra whack or two when the Comets netminder covered for a whistle.

At the other end of the ice, LeBlanc let fly with a shot that rang off the iron before Mazanec had to kick out a leg for another save in the Comets zone off of the stick of Dominik Masin.

There was a bit of sloppy back and forth from both clubs before the Comets saw some nice pressure from the trio of Gaunce, Boucher, and Malone.

Reid Gardiner was dinged for tripping at the 14:36 mark and the Comets were back to the kill.

Cal Foote had a shot from the high slot soaked up by Mazanec before Alex Volkov beat the Comets netminder from in close for his 19th goal of the year. Carter Verhaeghe picked up his 43rd assist of the season on the play, while Dennis Yan grabbed his 10th. The Comets were in a 3-1 hole.

The Crunch kept it coming when Gabriel Dumont had a shot denied by Mazanec before Seamus Malone’s game was ended for the night after getting dumped by Daniel Walcott.

Malone looked to be favouring his wrist as he left the ice. The young man has picked up three goals and another in the shootout since joining the team five games ago. This will be a tough loss if he is out for any length of time.

The Crunch didn’t show any sympathy as Foote hammered another shot on the net that Mazanec shut down before Matt Petgrave interfered with Boris Katchouk’s partial break enough to warrant a penalty shot. Katchouk tried his moves and Mazanec said, no.

Andy Andreoff was sent off for slashing at the 18:32 mark and the Comets would finish the period with the man advantage. We saw Pyatt feed Boucher with a cross-crease pass for a chance that was denied before Petgrave had a one-timer blocked as time wound down.

The Comets would finish the opening frame down 3-1 on the scoreboard and down 18-6 on the shot clock…that isn’t ideal.

The second period got underway with the Comets still holding a little under 30 seconds of power play time and Colton Saucerman was the man looking to do some damage. The defender let fly with a point shot that was blocked before he picked up his rebound and fired another one on the net that was denied by Tolvanen. The Comets came up empty once again.

At the other end of the ice, Mazanec had to get his legs moving as he came up with a pair of saves by kicking out a quick pad to keep his team in this one.

I should mention that the game was done for both Kero and Malone as neither player would return to the game after leaving the opening period with injuries.

The physical play continued from both clubs in this one as these teams don’t care much for each other.

Reid Gardiner was looking to help MacEwen get on the board with a nice feed that the TheBigFella tipped, but Tolvanen was ready with another save.

Andy Andreoff was sent off for high-sticking at the 4:00-minute mark and the Comets had another power play to work with. This one was a dog, folks. The Comets couldn’t get any traction and came up empty.

Soon after the power play ended, Verhaeghe whipped out a spin and fire move, but Mazanec swallowed it up for the whistle. At the other end, MacEwen fired up the dangle machine to split the Syracuse defence but was unable to get his shot away before running out of room.

We saw some back and forth before the Crunch applied some solid pressure. They were putting their shots wide of the net, however, so the Comets were able to weather that storm.

At the other end, Saucerman fired a wrister through traffic that was steered aside by the blocker of Tolvanen before Dennis Yan went the other way with a chance that was gloved down by Mazanec for another whistle.

Brendan Woods isn’t likely going to put up buckets of points, but it is never for a lack of trying. The big pivot came up with a turn and fire play in close that Tolvanen was ready for and the Comets were still down 3-1.

Boucher followed up with a chance of his own when he put his first shot wide before collecting the rebound and ripping it off of Tolvanen’s lid. Jesse Graham tried his luck next with a shot through traffic that was turned aside by Tolvanen as well.

The Comets kept it coming when MacEwen tipped a point shot wide before Woods was shoved into Tolvanen and the whistle was blown.

Mazanec had to be sharp at the other end when Taylor Raddysh and Carter Verhaeghe went in on a two-on-one to keep his team in this one. The Comets netminder followed up with a flash of the leather for a follow-up save as well.

The Comets were looking to pull to within a goal when Reid Gardiner let fly with a shot from the high slot that was kicked out before the other Reid, of the Boucher variety, had a chance denied, as did Cam Darcy. Lukas Jasek fired a shot on net that Woods got a piece of, but so did Tolvanen and the score remained the same.

Matt Petgrave was dinged for holding at the 16:03 mark and it was back to the kill for Utica. The officials seemed to miss a high-stick on this Syracuse power play as MacEwen took some lumber to the mumbles that went undetected and the Crunch went up 4-1 soon after.

It was Alex Volkov doing the damage with his 20th goal of the year and second of the game. Verhaeghe picked up his 44th helper of the year on the play, while Cal Foote grabbed his 20th. No big deal, right? The Comets could get that one right back…

Uh…nope.

Just 45 seconds later, the Crunch were up 5-1 after Ross Colton beat Mazanec for his 14th of the season. That Verhaeghe fellow picked up yet another assist, giving him 45 on the year, while Taylor Raddysh earned his 26th.

The period wrapped up with a big hit from Brendan Gaunce in the offensive zone that forced a turnover, leading to a pair of Comets chances that were turned aside. The Comets finished the period with a 13-8 advantage on the shot clock for the middle frame.

We saw some early back and forth as Cam Darcy had a chance denied at one end before Mazanec took his turn to make a save at the other.

Darcy went from coming up with a scoring chance to taking a penalty when he was whistled for hooking at the 1:18 mark to send his club back to the kill. Things got worse after Mazanec made a save and Jaime Sifers took an ill-advised extra poke at a Syracuse skater and he too was off to the box for roughing.

With the Comets down two men, we saw a trio of Bancks, MacEwen, and Blujus out to kill this off. Raddysh put a shot off the mask of Mazanec before Cam Darcy was back out to bring this to a normal five-on-four penalty kill for the Comets. Utica would come up with a good kill.

Ross Colton followed up the Syracuse power play with some moves to get in close for a scoring chance, but Mazanec was equal to the task. The trio of Darcy, Pyatt, and Boucher went the other way to put on some pressure in the offensive zone which led to Daniel Walcott getting busted for holding the stick and the Comets had another power play to work with.

Tolvanen had to come up with a save before Boris Katchouk went the other way for another shorthanded chance that Mazanec kicked aside for another save. The Comets power play was unable to connect for a goal.

The Comets were looking for a goal as MacEwen put a shot off the glove of Tolvanen before Boucher was denied as well. Mazanec came up with another save at the other end before Conacher was sent off for hooking at the 7:55 mark.

This was a rough kill for the Comets, as not only could they not get out of their own end, but Zack MacEwen was felled while blocking a shot and struggled to get to the bench. On the next whistle, TheBigFella was helped off the ice and headed down the tunnel. His night was over as well.

Lukas Jasek would get a shot late on the power play, but Tolvanen was there with the save. The Comets came up empty once more.

Soon after, however, Reid Gardiner took a feed from Carter Bancks and blew it past Tolvanen from the right side for his second goal of the season. Bancks picked up his ninth assist of the year on the play.

A little over 30 seconds later, Conacher was sent off for a high-stick and it was back to the power play for the Comets. This was another power play that the Comets might have wanted to decline as they were under pressure from the Crunch and watched as Ben Thomas ripped a shot off the iron behind Mazanec. The Comets penalty kill was over and fruitless.

Time was running out for the Comets but they were still looking to find another goal. Brendan Gaunce had a shot kicked out by Tolvanen before Mazanec had to make a pair of saves with the Comets hemmed in their own end.

Dennis Yan gave the Comets one last crack at a power play goal when he was dinged for slashing at the 17:17 mark. This was another fruitless one for Utica as the Crunch made sure that they would not be able to get anything going.

Mazanec made one more save late in the game before Taylor Raddysh grabbed his 17th of the season to put the Crunch up 6-2 with just 10 seconds remaining. Former Comets forward, Brady Brassart earned his eighth helper of the year on the play.

That was it for this one as the Crunch showed a 10-6 advantage on the third period shot clock and a 36-25 advantage for the game.

Malone (3) from Pyatt (10) and Gaunce (20). Power play goal.

Gardiner (2) from Bancks (9).

3rd Star: Atte Tolvanen. 23 saves, first AHL win.

2nd Star: Carter Verhaeghe. One goal, three assists.

1st Star: Alex Volkov. Two goals.

I am only handing out one star today and it will be going to newcomer Seamus Malone. There were not a lot of bright spots in this one, but Malone grabbed his third goal in just his 16th period of pro hockey. He is proving to be a solid goal scorer and has also shown some nifty passes since joining the team. I hope that his injury won’t be keeping him out long, but it didn’t look great.

Game #71

Vs Toronto Marlies

Friday, April 5th, 2019

7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific