Utica Week In Review: December 1st
By Jeremy Davis
8 years ago
Photo credit: Lindsay A. Mogle / Utica Comets
After a relatively lackluster beginning to the 2015-16 season, the Comets have suddenly caught fire. They’ve won four straight games, and on top of that they’ve scored 20 times during that winning streak. The offense has caught fire, and the goaltending has clamped down. All is well in Utica.
The one caveat as far as Vancouver fans go is that it’s been mostly the Comets supporting cast that have been putting up numbers, rather than Canucks prospects. Whereas last week the list of top five point getters on the team was populated entirely by prospects, things have gotten considerably more crowded after a couple of point nights on Wednesday and Saturday.
Let’s go over last week’s games and see who stood out and who’s faded away.
The Games
November 25th, 2015 vs. Lehigh Valley: 4 – 1 Win
This highlight package is just goals and nothing else because that’s all that happened in this game. The Comets put up a seven spot on the Philadelphia affiliate, and they did it in green. It was glorious.
The Utica Comets scored in bunches on Wednesday night and gave their fans thanks, the night before Thanksgiving, when they defeated the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 7-1 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday night.
Alex Biega (1-1-2), Alex Friesen (1-1-2), Taylor Fedun (1-1-2), Carter Bancks (0-2-2), and Wacey Hamilton (1-1-2) all enjoyed two-point nights. Blair Jones (2-0-2) scored twice, and Joseph LaBate (1-0-1) potted his first professional goal, while Joe Cannata made 27 saves in the win.
The Comets outshot the Phantoms 33-28. The Comets power play went 1-for-6, while the penalty-killing unit was a perfect 3-for-3.
With the win, Utica improves to 7-8-1-1 on the season. The loss drops the Phantoms to 8-10-1-0. The Comets are now 3-0-0-0, and have outscored opponents 18-2 in their new green alternate sweaters.
Per the Utica Comets press release.
November 27th, 2015 @ Portland: 4 – 1 Win
Apparently the Portland Pirates aren’t really into the Internet and stuff, and since usually the home team uploads the highlights, there were none.
For the first time this season the Utica Comets have strung together three straight wins with a 4-1 win over the Portland Pirates at the Cross Insurance Arena, on Friday night.
Richard Bachman made 29-saves in his second victory as a member of the Comets, while Carter Bancks (2-0-2), Taylor Fedun (1-0-1), and Blair Jones (1-1-2) provided the goals for the visiting team.
PHOTO GALLERY
A Pirates turnover in their defensive zone led to Bancks’ third goal of the season. Defenseman Ashton Sautner collected the loose puck just inside the blue line, and flicked a shot on net. Bancks, from just below the hashmarks, deflected the puck past Mike McKenna to open the game’s scoring.
After a scoreless second period, Fedun gave the Comets some breathing room with a power-play goal late in the third period. With less than seven minutes left in the game, Fedun lasered a one-time slap shot through traffic and past McKenna. Hunter Shinkaruk and Linden Vey recorded assists on the goal.
The 2-1 game received an inflated score when the teams combined for three goals in the game’s final two minutes. In between empty-net goals for Bancks and Jones, the Pirates managed to break-up Bachman’s shutout bid with just 1:10 remaining when Chase Balisy redirected a shot up-and-over the Comets’ goaltender.
With the win the Comets’ record improved to 8-8-1-1 on the season, while the win dropped the Pirates’ record to 7-9-0-0 this season. The Comets power play converted on one of their three power-play attempts, while the penalty-killing unit successfully killed all five of the Pirates power plays.
The Comets and Pirates get right back at it tomorrow night in Portland for the final game of a two-game series. Puck drop from Cross Insurance Arena, in Portland, ME, is scheduled for 7pm. The Comets return home on Wednesday for a rematch with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm, and a limited amount of tickets are available for purchase.
Per the Utica Comets press release.
November 28th, 2015 @ Portland: 6 – 3 Win
The Comets faced off against the Pirates for the second time in as many nights, and they whooped them even worse than the first time. Again there were no highlights, so I made these myself. You’re welcome.
The Utica Comets completed their perfect 3-0-0-0 week with their second win in as many nights over the Portland Pirates at the Cross Insurance Arena on Saturday night. The 6-3 win extended the Comets season-high winning streak to four games, and their record against the Pirates to 3-0-0-0.
Travis Ehrhardt (2-0-2), Michael Zalewski (1-1-2), Alexandre Grenier (0-2-2) and Carter Bancks (0-2-2) all enjoyed multi-point nights for the Comets, while goaltender Joe Cannata made 31 saves and collected his sixth win of the season. Ashton Sautner (1-0-1), Alex Friesen (1-0-1) and Nicklas Jensen (1-0-1) also found the back of the net for the boys in blue.
With the win the Comets’ record improves to 9-8-1-1 on the season, while the win dropped the Pirates’ record to 7-10-0-0 this season. The Comets power play converted on one of their two power-play attempts, while the penalty-killing unit successfully killed all three of the Pirates power plays.
Per the Utica Comets press release.
The Lines
Alex Friesen took a couple of turns on the top line this week as the coaches tried to spark a little something from the top six – despite the fact that Shinkaruk and Grenier earned a few points this week (three and two respectively), their line didn’t show much at even strength. Friesen did manage a goal, but it was directly off a faceoff that he won and thus didn’t involve his teammates at all. Vey returned to the top line for Saturday’s game, but in that tilt it was the Friesen-Kenins-Jensen line that looked the most dangerous.
The all-AHLer line of Bancks, Hamilton and Jones had quite a week, combining for 14 points across the three games. They have carried the offense during a period in which the prospects are having a bit of a lull. On the backs of their contributions, the Comets are on a four-game winning streak – the best of their season.
Rookies continue to be rotated in and out. Cole Cassels sat out Wednesday while Joe LaBate and Jordan Subban sat out on Saturday. Both are getting used to the rigors of a pro season and are on heavy off-ice workout schedules, especially Cassels who is still recovering from last season’s abdominal injury. Defensive prospect Andrey Pedan spent the whole week with the Canucks though he’s yet to get into a game. They might as well play him, that defence can’t get much worse.
Brendan Gaunce has now missed four straight games with an undisclosed injury. It isn’t expected to be a long-term one, but all the same it appears that AHL coaches are as tough to get injury information off of as NHL coaches.
The Stats
| # | Player | GP | G | A | P | +/- | Sh | PIM |
| 2 | T. Ehrhardt | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 3 | A. Biega | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 6 | A. Sautner | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 5 | 2 |
| 7 | J. Subban | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 8 | A. Friesen | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 5 | 2 |
| 9 | H. Shinkaruk | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | -1 | 10 | 0 |
| 10 | B. Gaunce | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | J. Negrin | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | J. Kurtz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | M. Zalewski | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 15 | R. Kenins | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 3 | 4 |
| 16 | J. LaBate | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 17 | N. Jensen | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 18 | L. Vey | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 5 | 2 |
| 20 | J. Landry | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 3 | 0 |
| 22 | B. Jones | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | -1 | 3 | 7 |
| 24 | C. Cassels | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 25 | D. Archibald | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 27 | T. Fedun | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 8 | 0 |
| 28 | A. Grenier | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 3 | 4 |
| 34 | C. Bancks | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 36 | W. Hamilton | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 37 | A. Pedan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Remember last week when the Comets a seventh worst .978 PDO? Well, their hot week has corrected that number, and they now sit at twelfth best with a PDO of 1.002. That’s #regression folks. As a team, their shooting percentage is up to 10.4 percent, and their save percentage is now at .900 (that one still needs some work).
As mentioned, the majority of the offensive damage this week was done by the non-prospects. As far as Canuck contracts go, Alex Friesen had the best week with four points, followed by Shinkaruk and Nicklas Jensen, who both had three. Ronalds Kenins, Jordan Subban, and Linden Vey collected single points.
One prospect who is starting to come on strong is Ashton Sautner. The 20-year old rookie returned from an injury on Wednesday and skated with Taylor Fedun, an assignment that granted him some healthy ice time. He responded by scoring his second goal of the season and adding an assist. He doesn’t get much attention, but he certainly looked like a prospect with a future last week.
The mystery of the moment is Cole Cassels. 19 games into Utica’s season he’s been a healthy scratch five times. That’s somewhat expected – he’s still recovering from an injury while trying to handle a substantial increase in competition transitioning to the professional game. Travis Green has stated that he’s on a strict regiment of limited playing time and intense off-ice workouts and doesn’t expect him to be back to his usual self until after Christmas.
Still, fans would’ve hoped for more than a single power play assist by now, not to mention having just seven shots to show for 14 games of work. All in all, his visual performance can simply be described as underwhelming. Of course, that might just be par for the course with his recovery. We may have to wait another month to see if things improve. In the meantime, it seems like he’s starting to feel the frustration of his tough start.
Comets season-to-date stats can be found here: http://onecanuck.com/comets/comets-statitistics/
Player of the Week
I’d like to give the Player of the Week honours to an actual prospect every week, but none of them jumped out this week. The player who most deserves it is Carter Bancks. The 26-year old undrafted BC native had the best statistical week of his professional career, scoring two goals and adding four assists. He and Wacey Hamilton have formed a dynamic duo that aren’t likely to ever make it to the NHL, but they sure are fun to watch. To put it into perspective, they give to Comets fans what Ronalds Kenins and Bo Horvat gave to Canucks fans last season.
If I had to pick a Canucks prospect, I’d give the nod to Nicklas Jensen. The points aren’t coming as fast and furious as they have been for Shinkaruk, but Jensen has looked very sharp since returning from an injury a few weeks back. The only problem is, with so many other prospects passing him on the depth chart, it might already be too late to make a difference. People are already forgetting that he’s even still there.
Looking Ahead
Next week the Comets play the same three days. Lehigh Valley will return to the ice on Wednesday to try to avenge the drubbing they took last week. The St. John’s IceCaps (MTL) will be in town on Friday before the Comets head to Syracuse on Saturday to face the Crunch (TBL) for the third time this season, having split the previous two games.
The Comets are flying high on their winning streak and will look to continue their winning ways. I’ll be looking this week to see if the prospects can get back in the driver’s seat and take over some game. Hunter Shinkaruk has now gone three games without a goal, falling to third in the league in that department, and it’s been seven games since his last hat-trick. What is going on?!
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