CanucksArmy Utica Comets Post-Game: The Comets Down The Rocket 3-1 In The First Of Back-to-Back Meetings

Game #11

At Laval Rocket

Friday, November 2nd, 2018

7:30 pm Eastern/4:30 pm Pacific

The 24th overall Utica Comets rolled into Laval today to take on the 27th ranked Rocket, (Montreal affiliate) for their 11th game of the season. The Comets had eight points coming into today’s contest, while the Rocket had seven.

Utica showed a record of 4-6-0-0 and had gone 3-1-0-0 on the road this year. Laval, for their part, had a record of 3-6-1-0 this year while sporting a home record of 2-4-0-0.

The Comets had been outscored 39-30 by their opponents, giving up the third most goals in the AHL so far this season. The Rocket had been outscored 27-24 by their opponents this year. The Comets had also accumulated the third most minutes in the box with 158 penalty minutes as a group.

Defencemen Olli Juolevi led all Comets rookies with six points through 10 games, while Jake Evans was the rookie leader for Laval with five points in 10 contests.

The injured Reid Boucher was still the points leader in Utica with 12 in eight games. Zack MacEwen sat second with nine points in his first 10 games, while Tanner Kero rounded out the top three with one goal and seven helpers in 10 games.

Kenny Agostino was the top dog in Laval with nine points in 10 games, while Alex Belzile sat second with seven points in the same number of games. Byron Froese rounded out the Rocket top three with six points in seven matches.

There would be a few familiar faces across the ice today as former Comets forwards Hunter Shinkaruk, Alex Grenier, and Michael Chaput were all playing for the Rocket today. Former Vancouver Canuck, and Dragon Slayer, Alex Burrows was also behind the bench as part of the Laval coaching staff.

There were a few roster moves made by the Comets since they played last. I have included a link below that will shed some light on those moves.

Reid Boucher, (week-to-week) Kole Lind, (week-to-week), Reid Gardiner, Jesse Graham, and Wacey Hamilton.

54 Jonathan Dahlen – 11 Cam Darcy- 15 Zack MacEwen

19 Tanner MacMaster – 10 Tanner Kero (A)  – 58 Michael Carcone

52 Petrus Palmu – 34 Carter Bancks (C) – 9 Lukas Jasek

22 Jonah Gadjovich – 21 Brendan Woods – 18 Vincent Arseneau

48 Olli Juolevi – 26 Jaime Sifers (A)

6 Ashton Sautner – 8 Dylan Blujus

55 Guillaume Brisebois – 2 Evan McEneny

31 Ivan Kulbakov

33 Connor LaCouvee (backing up)

This was a pretty good period of action from the two clubs with some nice flow to the game. Zack MacEwen was the first to test Laval netminder Charlie Lindgren when he let fly with an early shot that was gloved down for a whistle.

Ivan Kulbakov came up with a save of his own at the other end of the ice before Jaime Sifers saw his point shot gloved down by Lindgren as well.

Petrus Palmu was back in the lineup today and the feisty winger redirected a shot for a scoring chance that was swallowed up for a whistle by Lindgren.

The back and forth kept coming as Kulbakov had to come up with a quick kick save to keep the game knotted at zero. Olli Juolevi and Zack MacEwen each had chances denied before Brendan Woods came up with a nice takeaway on former Comet, Michael Chaput at the Utica line.

Jonathan Dahlen was looking more engaged in this one. I had found him to be hanging a bit in the soft areas in recent games, but he looked like he came to play today, showing a nice stick, forcing a turnover to linemate Cam Darcy.

In the Comets zone, Kulbakov did well to stop a Michal Moravick point shot through traffic and the netminder held for a whistle.

Palmu drew a hooking penalty on Alex Belzile at the 10:53 mark and the Comets were headed to the power play. We saw power play units of Gadjovich, MacMaster, Jasek, Juolevi, and Carcone, along with Dahlen, MacEwen, Kero, Palmu, and McEneny. Juolevi played nearly all of the power play with McEneny replacing him for the final 30 seconds or so. Juolevi had the best chance, but the Comets would come up empty.

Jonah Gadjovich followed up the man advantage with some nice work in the Laval zone to retrieve the puck and set Dylan Blujus up for a point shot that was gobbled up by Lindgren. Gadjovich continued his nice work in the offensive zone with a good stick to force another turnover.

Kulbakov followed up with a nice save on a Brett Kulak one-timer to keep his team in the game.

Guillaume Brisebois has been told by the coaching staff in both Vancouver and Utica that they’d like to see a little more snap on his shots and passes, well, Breezy Gui had some zip on this one as he set up Jonathan Dahlen with a nice stretch pass for a sweet backhand goal to beat Lindgren and put the Comets up 1-0. The goal was the second of the season for Dahlen, while Brisebois grabbed his second helper and McEneny earned his first.

Is it ironic that Dahlen scored on a move similar to the Alex Burrows go-to shootout move while the man he was traded for was standing behind the Laval bench as a coach?

Following the Dahlen goal, Kulbakov came up with a timely shoulder save on Michael McCarron. Tanner Kero was decked in the late going and headed to the bench. Thankfully, he would return before the period would end.

Vincent Arseneau lowered the boom with a big offensive zone hit that was followed up by an Ashton Sautner shot that Lindgren denied.

Dahlen and Darcy broke in late for a chance that was denied, but we also saw Darcy crash heavily into the end boards and he looked to be shaken up. Darcy was able to leave the ice under his own power.

That was it for the opening frame. The Comets showed a 10-5 advantage on the shot clock.

Cam Darcy was back out to start the second period, so the Comets were able to avoid another injury, for now.

The Comets kept it coming in the middle frame as we saw Dahlen send MacEwen in for an early chance that was sent wide of the net. Michael CrazyLegs Carcone showed off his wheels again when he broke in with speed and tried to hit Tanner MacMaster with a pass that was picked off in the net-front area.

The Comets had some good zone time early in the second period. Jonah Gadjovich was having another solid game again today on an energy line with Brendan Woods and Vincent Arseneau. Gadjovich had a scoring chance early in the middle frame, but Lindgren whipped out the mitt to say, no.

Kulbakov came up with a save on a very wide wraparound chance before MacMaster hit Carcone for a chance that the speedy winger ripped off the iron. Gadjovich followed up with a nice feed into the slot for Woods, who was stymied by Lindgren. MacMaster and Kero worked a nice passing play that resulted in Lindgren having to make yet another save.

Juolevi absorbed a solid hit in his own end of the ice in order to make a play and not long after, the Comets were up 2-0 on Zack MacEwen’s fourth goal of the season. Juolevi hit Sifers with a pass and the grizzled veteran skated down the ice, finding MacEwen in front for a one-timer. The assist was the first of the season for Sifers, while Juolevi earned his sixth.

Tanner Kero was whistled for interference just four seconds after the MacEwen marker and the Comets penalty kill went to work. Trent Cull rolled Woods and Bancks along with Sautner and Blujus over the boards for the first unit, and Darcy, MacEwen, Sifers, and I believe McEneny for the second unit. Kulbakov would come up with a save on Michael McCarron before making back-to-back saves and the Comets would have a good kill.

Michael Carcone put the Comets up 3-0 with his second of the year after going hard to the net and having a Tanner Kero pass go in off his leg. Kero earned his eighth assist of the year on the play.

That was the end of the night for Charlie Lindgren as he was summoned to the bench in favour of Michael McNiven.

Former Comets forward, Hunter Shinkaruk ripped a shot off the iron at one end, before Dahlen hit MacEwen for a one-timer that TheBigFella fired wide of the net at the other. Kenny Agostino followed up with a break into the Comets zone, but found himself shutdown by Kulbakov, along with Ashton Sautner who did great work on the backcheck on the play.

There was a bit of a melee after Olli Juolevi was double teamed with a solid hit by Nikita Scherbak and Cale Fleury. Jaime Sifers took exception to what happened to his young defence partner and asked Fleury to dance. The veteran Comets defender handled himself well with a solid tilt. After the smoke had cleared, Sifers and Fleury were dinged with five each for fighting, while Vincent Arseneau and Scherbak were each given roughing minors.

Just over a minute later, Maxim Lamarche was whistled for a cross-check and the Comets would have a brief four-on-three power play. Evan McEneny would see his shot from the circle gloved down by McNiven and the Comets would come up empty on the power play.

There was a minor fracas in the Comets zone as the period wound down, but no penalties were called. Utica showed a 13-12 advantage on the shot clock for the middle frame.

The Comets entered the third period up 3-0, but the final frame saw the Rocket pour on the pressure.

Evan McEneny whipped out a nifty hip-check early in the final frame. I’d like to see more of that from the big defender.

This was Petrus Palmu’s sixth game today and if there is one thing that I have noticed from him in each of those games, it’s that he has a very active stick in all three zones. He uses his twig well to break up plays and force turnovers. It may take the winger a little time to figure out his role with the Comets. He was an all situations guy last year and played a fair bit. Working in and out of the lineup this year can’t be easy for him, but he looks like he could be finding his way in a bit of a defensive role. I think that he is the type of player who will see his offensive totals increase as a result of taking care of the defensive side of things first.

Gadjovich dished a nice pass to Vincent Arseneau, but BigVinny fired his offering wide of the net.

Cam Darcy would put the Comets penalty killers back to work when he was whistled for interference at the four-minute mark.

Kulbakov would come up with a pair of saves before a Brett Kulak one-timer beat him through traffic. The goal was the third of the season for Kulak, while Alex Belzile picked up his seventh helper of the year on the play and Cale Fleury earned his fourth.

The Rocket had the Comets hemmed in their own end for a good stretch after the Kulak goal.

Evan McEneny was sent off for interference at the 7:43 mark and the Comets were back to the kill. Kulbakov covered up the puck and had Michael McCarron take an extra poke at it. The goaltender wasn’t impressed with McCarron and let him know it with a swipe of the glove hand. Sifers also got involved, but it was McCarron alone headed to the box for roughing.

With the teams playing some four aside hockey, Juolevi did nice work to pinch a Laval forward off the puck along the boards in the Comets zone. Kulbakov followed up with an alert save from the other side of the ice.

At the other end of the ice, Tanner Kero and Jonathan Dahlen broke in with speed but Kero couldn’t connect with Dahlen for a pass. Michael Chaput went the other way for a scoring chance but was shut down by Kulbakov with another save with a crease full of traffic.

Kulbakov came up with another save from an odd angle before stoning Adam Plant on a wraparound chance. Chaput had another chance, but Kulbakov was equal to the task.

At the other end of the ice, Kero set up Carcone for a nice chance but McNiven said no.

With three minutes remaining on the clock, McNiven was summoned to the bench for the extra attacker. Captain, Carter Bancks came up with back-to-back shot blocks for the Comets before Cale Fleury rang the iron with a shot.

Kulbakov would come up with another save before the Rocket called their timeout with 50 seconds remaining. Whatever pep talk their coaching staff used didn’t seem to help as the Comets wrapped this one up with a 3-1 win.

Laval showed a 15-3 advantage on the shot clock for the final frame and a 32-26 advantage for the game.

3rd Star. Cale Fleury: One assist.

2nd Star. Guillaume Brisebois: One assist.

1st Star. Jonathan Dahlen: One goal.

3rd Star: Jonah Gadjovich. I liked what I saw from Gadjovich again today. His skating isn’t as fluid as some may like, he has some work to do there still, but he has been playing on an effective energy line with Brendan Woods and Vincent Arseneau. Jonah saw time on the power play today as the net-front presence. Gadjovich dished a couple of pretty nice passes today as well and I liked his work along the boards on the forecheck.

2nd Star: Olli Juolevi. Juolevi played another sound game today, making some nice passes, playing with poise in all three zones and leading the Comets with four shots on goal. He played with veteran Jaime Sifers today, and while Sifers offers a solid veteran presence, he isn’t the same type of player as Juolevi’s normal partner, Jalen Chatfield. Juolevi did well to adjust to his new partner and showed well once again for the Comets.

1st Star: Ivan Kulbakov. Kulbakov has been quite the Road Warrior for the Comets this year, picking up his fourth win in the other team’s barn this year. He came up with 31 saves today and continues to exceed expectations this season. Signed to an AHL deal this offseason to play the third string role for the Comets while plying his trade in Kalamazoo, Kulbakov has been pressed into duty and he has shown quite well. He is earning the trust of this coaching staff and having success early on might come in handy later in the year if the Comets find themselves playoff bound and end up losing Thatcher Demko to Vancouver to finish the season.

At Laval Rocket

Saturday, November 3rd, 2018

3:00 pm Eastern/12:00 noon Pacific