CanucksArmy Utica Comets Post-Game: Leighton Shines As Utica Comets Take a 3-2 Overtime Win In Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

Game #53

At Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Saturday, February 16th, 2019

7:05 pm Eastern/4:05 pm Pacific

Richard Bachman, (out for the season) Olli Juolevi, (out for the season) Dylan Blujus, (week-to-week) Carter Bancks, (day-to-day) Reid Gardiner, Colton Saucerman.

 

20 Tom Pyatt – 10 Tanner Kero – 24 Reid Boucher (A)

54 Jonathan Dahlen – 21 Brendan Woods – 9 Lukas Jasek

16 Brendan Gaunce – 11 Cam Darcy – 13 Kole Lind

22 Jonah Gadjovich – 36 Wacey Hamilton (A) – 18 Vincent Arseneau

6 Ashton Sautner – 64 Jesse Graham

2 Evan McEneny – 5 Jalen Chatfield

3 Stefan LeBlanc – 26 Jaime Sifers (A)

49 Michael Leighton

31 Ivan Kulbakov (backing up)

The first period of this one went by pretty quickly, even if there were no goals to talk about. Jonah Gadjovich has been getting into the lineup and playing well of late and he got his game off to a good start with a heavy hit on the forecheck early.

We had some back and forth before Jonathan Dahlen hit Lukas Jasek with a cross-ice feed. Jasek let fly with his shot and it was turned aside by goaltender Tristan Jarry. The Comets kept it coming when Jesse Graham followed up with a shot off the right side that was soaked up by Jarry for a whistle.

At the other end, Michael Leighton had to make a diving save on an Anthony Angello chance before getting a stick on former Canucks forward Joseph Cramarossa’s shot for another save.

The Comets line of Gadjovich, Hamilton, and Arseneau like to get their licks in on the forecheck and the trio went to work with a great shift in the offensive zone.

We didn’t get to see it, but Ashton Sautner was corked by a solid hit from Ryan Scarfo off camera, but the rough and tumble defender stayed in the game.

Reid Boucher does a lot of damage from the right circle, but he was able to get a one-timer away from the left side that Jarry kicked aside to keep the game knotted at zero.

The Comets would love to get more offence from their backend and Jesse Graham is one of the players who was brought in with the hopes of helping with that. Graham stretched the ice with a pass to send Cam Darcy in for a shot with Kole Lind going hard to the net. Darcy got his shot away but put it right into the logo on Jarry’s jersey.

I have been somewhat hard on Jonathan Dahlen this season for not being as hard to play against as I think he can be. He stuffed that down my throat with some solid work along the boards in the offensive zone, but the Comets were unable to take advantage of his efforts.

It was time for the Pens to pressure and they forced Leighton into a pair of saves before Jalen Chatfield dropped the gloves with Joe Blandisi. The two combatants were seen jawing at each other ahead of their breif scuffle. Both men were assessed with five for fighting.

The Comets were looking to open the scoring when Brendan Gaunce took the puck hard to the net and ripped a shot off the mask of Jarry before running into the netminder. No penalty would be called and the game continued. Ashton Sautner follwed up with a shot and Jarry had another save.

That’s when Dahlen made me eat my words again with a great stick to force a turnover in the offensive  zone, but again, the Comets were unable to take advantage. Ryan Haggerty went the other way and fired a shot into the chest of Leighton and we had some back and forth.

Ethan Prow unloaded from the high slot and was shut down by Leighton before Cam Darcy’s line poured on the pressure in the Pens zone.

The Pens stormed back and a Lukas Jasek turnover led to a rush chance from Angello that was denied by Leighton. Jalen Chatfield followed up with a timely shot block after Sautner coughed up the puck in the Comets zone.

At the other end of the ice, Jonah Gadjovich came up with a nice steal and fired a shot on net that Jarry turned aside. The Pens nearly went up 1-0 late when Jesse Graham gave up the puck in the defensive zone, but Leighton was ready to bail him out. That was it for the opening frame.

The Penguins showed an 11-10 advantage on the shot clock.

The second period got off to a sketchy start when Ryan Haggerty got in behind the Comets defence and got a shot away that Leighton turned aside before Sam Miletic was sent off for hooking at the 1:05 mark.

With Zack MacEwen, Guillaume Brisebois, Luke Schenn, and Adam Gaudette all up with the big club, we saw some slightly different power play units.

The first unit of Evan McEneny, Reid Boucher, Tanner Kero, Jonathan Dahlen, and Brendan Gaunce gave up a shorthanded breakaway to JS Dea, but Leighton flashed the leather for the save. The second unit of Kole Lind, Jonah Gadjovich, Tom Pyatt, Lukas, Jasek, and Ashton Sautner also gave up a shorthanded chance to Dea, this time off of a Dahlen turnover, and just like the first time, Leighton said no.

When the Comets finally did get some pressure, Gadjovich ended up in the back of the net and was taking some lumps from Jarry for being there. Gadjovich would leave the game soon after and did not return for the middle frame. The Comets came up empty with the extra man.

Utica nearly scored soon after the power play ended when Dahlen fed McEneny for a point shot that was denied. Graham followed up with another point shot through traffic that was tipped and Jarry shut that one down as well.

It was at this point when Comets radio voice Joe Roberts told us that Gadjovich was headed down the tunnel with the trainer.

Jalen Chatfield has had some unfortunate bounces since his return from injury, but he did some great work to break up a Pens scoring chance at speed. Zach Trotman let fly with a point shot that was kicked aside by Leighton and the game was still scoreless. Leighton was having himself another solid game today. He’s proven to be a nice addition to the team so far.

Leighton had to be good in this one with the way his club was turning over the puck in front of him. It was Graham again, as he had his stick lifted and the Comets netminder bailed him out once more. In fairness to Graham, he has missed a stretch of games and is now playing with a full windshiled attatched to his helmet.

Leighton had to follow up that save with a few more on a scramble play before Kole Lind went the other way and hit Gaunce with a nice feed. Gaunce dished to a rushing Chatfield, but the defender couldn’t get his shot away.

Cam Darcy was dinged for hooking at the 11:16 mark and sent the Comets to the penalty kill. Don’t worry, folks, Darcy would make up for this penalty a little later in the game.

Trent Cull was leaning on his vets on the penalty kill as he didn’t have youngsters Gaudette and MacEwen to sprinkle in with his trusted soldiers up front. It might be a little early, but I wouldn’t mind seeing if Kole Lind or Lukas Jasek are capable of spotting into those spots while the others are earning NHL paychecks.

We saw forward duos of Hamilton with Woods, Boucher with Kero, and Gaunce with Pyatt. On the backend, Sautner and Sifers saw time, as did Chatfield.

Ryan Haggerty unloaded a shot from the left side that was shut down and held for the whistle by Leighton before Tanner Kero forced an offensive zone turnover to kill more time off the clock as the Comets killed this one off.

Leighton wasn’t done, however, as he had to glove down a Matt Apt shot from the left side.

With Gadjovich done for the evening, the lines were juggled up for the remainder of the game. Two players who always seem to stay together are Boucher and Kero. The pair work well together and Boucher showed how when he waited for Kero to join him at speed before using his pivot as a screen and getting his shot off. Jarry was wise to his plan and came up with the save.

It’s normally the Comets who are taking penalties late in periods, but this time it was Joe Blandisi who was sent off at the 17:08 mark to send the Comets to a late power play. We saw Cam Darcy take Gadjovich’s spot for this one.

Kole Lind sent a nice pass to Tom Pyatt for a chance from the  left side that was shut down by Jarry. Wacey Hamilton won the ensuing faceoff and Brendan Woods scooped the puck out of his feet and ripped it past Jarry for his third goal of the year. Hamilton earned his fifth assist of the season on the play.

Now, that is the way to end a period of hockey. The Comets were up 1-0, but the Pens showed a 10-7 advantage on the shot clock for the middle frame.

As I mentioned earlier, Gadjovich’s night was done. It is an unfortunate time for him to get dinged up as he is finally seeing some regular minutes and has been earning some praise from his coaching staff. Fingers crossed for Jonah that this is nothing that will keep him out for any length of time.

It wasn’t all bad news for the Comets though as Vincent Arseneau whipped a backhander past Jarry to put the Comets up 2-0. It was the sixth goal of the season for BigVinny. Defenceman Stefan LeBlanc earned his ninth assist of the sesaosn and second in as many games on the play, while Wacey Hamilton picked up his sixth. That makes two assists off of faceoff wins in this game for Hamilton.

That’s a pretty solid way to start a period, but then this happened…Michael Leighton came up with a save but Sam Miletic was there to bury the rebound for his seventh goal of the season. JS Dea picked up his 16th assist of the season on the play and the Pens were within a goal with plenty of time to grab another.

This game saw a few scrums after whistles and one of those broke out behind the Pens net after a Jarry save. Cooler heads prevailed and nobody was headed to the box. Jarret Burton, however, was dinged for tripping moments later and the Comets had a man advantage to work with.

This one was a dud, folks. There was little puck movement and the Comets looked flat. They would come up empty once more.

Michael Leighton was playing well today, in fact, he’s played pretty well since coming aboard and looks like he’s well worth hanging onto for the remainder of the season. The netminder finished the day with 35 saves for his efforts and has gone 5-1 since joining the Comets, putting up a 2.32 goals-against average and a 0.923% save percentage.

Leighton came up with a save through traffic and Tanner Kero followed up with a shot block to show his defensive value.

Brendan Gaunce was whistled for interference at the 10:57 mark and it was back to the kill for Utica. Leighton was busy on this one, first kicking aside a point shot by Ethan Prow before whipping out the mitt to stymie Adam Johnson. He followed up with a stick save on Sam Lafferty to keep his club up by a goal. The Comets had another good kill in the books.

Gaunce looked like he was trying to make ammends for his penalty when he filled in a defender with a heavy hit on the forecheck after coming out of the box. We had some back and forth before Lafferty unloaded with a shot off of a  faceoff win and Leighton said, no.

Do you remeber earlier when I mentioned how the Comets have had a habit of taking penalties late in periods? Well, it was Wacey Hamilton doing the deed this time when he was sent off for trippng at the 17:19 mark.

The Pens summoned Jarry to the bench with about 1:40 remaining on the clock and went to work. Leighton came up with a save but Ryan Haggerty was right there to pounce on the rebound to knot the game at two. It was the 12th goal of the season for Haggerty, while Jarrett Burton earned his eighth assist of the year on the play and Sam Lafferty picked up his 20th.

JS Dea nearly wrapped this one up for the Pens with a late shot, but Leighton got a piece of it with his glove to keep the game tied at two and send us off to overtime.

The Pens showed a 13-4 advantage on the shot clock for the third period.

I was a little bit disappointed to see Trent Cull roll out mostly vets in this overtime rather than see what Kole Lind or Lukas Jasek could do, but we did get a glimpse of Jonathan Dahlen, so there’s that.

I understand that Cull wanted the extra point, but I still would have liked to see Lind and or Jasek get a look.

Leighton had to glove down an early chance before Brendan Woods clanged the iron with a shot at the other end. Joseph Blandisi had a chance on Leighton, but Ashton Sautner was able to tie him up and foil his game-winning dreams without taking a penalty. Blandisi was able to get another chance away, though and Leighton denied him as well.

Leighton wasn’t done there as he came up with one more save on Dea before Cam Darcy put this one away. Evan McEneny hit Jonathan Dahlen with a stretch pass and the rookie winger showed patience and vision as he waitied for Cam Darcy to catch up to the play and threaded a pass to him at full speed and the pivot buried a sweet backhander for the win.

The next run of Get Sauced Utica merch might have to have a gif of that pass on the front, (somehow) instead of Colton Saucerman’s bearded mug. What a feed!

The goal was Darcy’s eighth of the season, while Dahlen earned his 15th helper of the year on the play and Evan McEneny picked up his 20th.

That was it for this one. The Pens held a 3-2 advantage on the overtime shot clock and outshot the Comets by a 37-23 margin for the game.

Woods (3) from Hamilton (5).

Arseneau (6) from LeBlanc (9) and Hamilton (6).

Darcy (8) from Dahlen (15) and McEneny (20).

3rd Star: Sam Miletic. One goal.

2nd Star: Ryan Haggerty. One goal.

1st Star: Cam Darcy. Overtime winner.

3rd Star: Evan McEneny: McEneny is now up to eight goals to tie his carrer-high. He has 20 assists to beat his previous high of 15, and he has a career high of 28 points in 51 games, besting his 23 points in 64 games put up two seasons ago. He is playing first unit power play minutes and sees time on the penalty kill as well. The Comets will need him to contiue putting up points becasue there are not many others doing that from the backend in Utica this year.

2nd Star: Jonathan Dahlen: Dahlen picked up his 15th assist today and is now up to 29 points in 49 games. His play on the goal showed poise and a playmaker’s pass. It also showed just how dangerous he can be if time and space are available. Dahlen had his good moments and bad ones today. He coughed up the puck and it led to a shorthanded scoring chance, but he also showed some nice work on the forecheck. I still think that Dahlen has a way to go before he will be considered for a shift under Travis Green in Vancouver, but he is making some positive steps of late. He has seven points in his last six games.

1st Star: Michael Leighton: The veteran netminder was considering hanging up the skates before the Comets came calling and he has gone 5-1 since coming aboard. It looks like there just might be a little more gas left in Leighton’s tank. He made 35 saves today and continues to impress. I feel like Leighton might just be showing well enough to keep his job with this team once Marek Mazanec is sent down from Vancouver. It would allow Kulbakov to head back to KZOO and give Trent Cull and his staff some pretty solid options for the stretch drive and hopefully a playoff run.

Game #54

Vs Cleveland Monsters

Sunday, February 17th, 2019

5:00 pm Eastern/2:00 pm Pacific