Game #55

Vs Rochester Americans

Friday, February 22nd, 2019

7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific

Richard Bachman, (out for the season) Olli Juolevi, (out for the season) Dylan Blujus, (week-to-week) Jonah Gadjovich, (day-to-day) Kole Lind, (ill) Jonathan Dahlen, (ill) Brendan Woods, (ill) and Colton Saucerman, (healthy).

34 Carter Bancks (C) – 36 Wacey Hamilton (A) – 9 Lukas Jasek

20 Tom Pyatt – 10 Tanner Kero – 24 Reid Boucher

 16 Brendan Gaunce – 11 Cam Darcy – 14 Reid Gardiner

18 Vincent Arseneau – 19 Mike Szmatula – 28 Kyle Thomas

2 Evan McEneny – 5 Jalen Chatfield

55 Guillaume Brisebois – 26 Jaime Sifers (A)

3 Stefan LeBlanc – 64 Jesse Graham

31 Ivan Kulbakov

49 Michael Leighton (backing up)

We had a pretty decent first frame of hockey today, even if neither team was able to muster much offence. We started off with an early penalty kill for the Comets when Wacey Hamilton was dinged for a cross-check just 12 seconds in.

We saw forward units of Cam Darcy with Carter Bancks, Brendan Gaunce with Tom Pyatt, and Tanner Kero with Reid Boucher. Guillaume Brisebois and Jaime Sifers killed the bulk of this one on the backend with Jalen Chatfield also making an appearance. The Comets came up with a good kill.

Reid Gardiner had a solid game for the Comets against Cleveland and he did nice work to come up with a steal in the offensive zone but was unable to make anything happen.

At the other end of the ice, Ivan Kulbakov had to come up with a blocker save before fighting off another shot from the point. I was happy to see Guillaume Brisebois showing a bit of a physical edge on this shift with some heavy work in the corner.

Jack Dougherty was dinged for interference at the 4:39 mark and the Comets had a power play to work with.

The Comets rolled out the first unit of Pyatt, Kero, Gaunce, McEneny, and Boucher before the second unit of Jasek, Darcy, Gardiner, Brisebois, and Graham followed up. A murderer’s row, that second unit was not.

Neither group had any success outside of a Boucher offering being tipped on the net by Gaunce and the Comets came up empty.

We have seen some nice stretch passes from Evan McEneny this season and he whipped one out to send Carter Bancks in for a shot that was turned aside by goaltender Scott Wedgewood. At the other end of the ice, Brendan Guhle ripped a point shot off the iron before Zach Redmond began his personal attack on Ivan Kulbakov.

First, it was a point shot that was soaked up by Kulbakov before the netminder had to kick out a leg to stop another from the defender. Redmond kept it coming with another shot that was stopped and held by Kulbakov for a whistle. The Comets netminder had to come up with another save before Brisebois had a point shot tipped wide by Gaunce at the other end.

Redmond wasn’t just shooting pucks in this one, he was also getting whistled for a high-stick when he was sent off at the 13:20 mark.

Rochester had a quick two-on-one, shorthanded, that was foiled by the backchecking efforts of Tanner Kero before Boucher had a one-timer turned aside at the other end.

We saw Vincent Arseneau have chats with Andrew MacWilliam and Dalton Smith after a whistle and during a faceoff respectively. That might be something to keep an eye on as the game progresses.

Wacey Hamilton started the period with a penalty, and he took a late one as well when he was sent off for a faceoff violation at the 16:01 mark. Redmond had a one-timer gloved down by Kulbakov before Remi Elie had his chance denied as well. The Comets came up with a good kill.

As soon as the penalty ended, Boucher went the other way with a chance and Wedgewood made himself big to come up with the save.

Kulbakov had to shut down three late chances by the Amerks and we finished the opening frame knotted at zero.

Rochester showed a 12-5 advantage on the shot clock for the first period.

If you didn’t get enough goals for your liking in the opening frame, the second period might be more up your alley.

Tanner Kero opened the scoring just 56 seconds into the second period with his 21st goal of the season. It should come as no surprise that Reid Boucher grabbed an assist on the play for his 26th helper of the season.

It took just under a minute for the other Reid…of the Gardiner variety, to score his first goal of the season for the Comets. The unassisted marker showed some nice work from the former Kelowna Rocket.

Taylor Leier came right back for Rochester with a breakaway chance that Kulbakov shut down before Jalen Chatfield stepped up in the neutral zone to force a turnover for Brendan Gaunce.

At the other end, Kulbakov gloved down a point shot that saw a brief scuffle between Brisebois and Yannik Veillieux that amounted to nothing.

Kulbakov kept the saves coming when he blockered a shot away before knocking down another shot and sending Lukas Jasek away with a stretch pass. Jasek got his shot away and Wedgewood had another save.

The Comets ended up being hemmed in their own end for a shift before McEneny cleared the puck to relieve the pressure. That was when the Comets struck for their third straight goal of the game.

Kyle Thomas got this one going with a shot on the net that resulted in a rebound that Brisebois was able to pounce on for his third goal of the year. That matches Brisebois’ goal output from last season. The assist was Thomas’ first of the season with the Comets, while Vincent Arseneau also picked up his first helper of the year.

Pretty great start to the period for the Comets, right? If only they would finish it the same way.

Lukas Jasek got a shot off from the right side that was denied by Wedgewood before Kulbakov stopped Dougherty at the other end. The Comets netminder wasn’t done there as he stymied William Borgen as well before following up with another save.

Jaime Sifers was dinged for a high-stick at the 11:41 mark and the Comets had another penalty to kill.

With Sifers in the box, it didn’t take long for Victor Olofsson to get his team to within a pair with his 20th of the season. Rasmus Asplund picked up his 16th helper of the year on the play, while Zach Redmond earned his 22nd.

The Amerks kept coming as Simpson and MacWilliam broke in two-on-one, only to be stoned by Kulbakov with a big save. Kulbakov followed up with another stretch pass out of the zone, this time to Gaunce for a chance that was put wide of the net.

Boucher and Pyatt managed an odd-man rush, only to have Wedgewood say, no. He did the same with the Kero rebound chance that followed.

Wayne Simpson got his team to within a goal when he grabbed his 19th of the season on a breakaway. MacWilliam earned the lone helper on the play for his fourth of the season.

I have said it before, but the Comets have had an increasingly frustrating habit of taking penalties late in periods and this time it would be Jaime Sifers wearing the goat horns when he was sent off for delay of game after putting the puck over the glass at the 17:28 mark.

With one of the Comets best penalty killers in the box, Remi Elie banged in his fourth goal of the season to knot the game at three. Rasmus Asplund picked up his 17th assist of the season on the play, while Zach Redmond earned his 23rd.

Cam Darcy had a late one-time chance to get the go-ahead goal, but couldn’t get his shot to go. Carter Bancks followed up with a late chance of his own that was turned aside by Wedgewood and the buzzer sounded to end the period.

The Amerks showed a 12-9 advantage on the shot clock for the middle frame.

The Comets started the period with some good pressure and chances from the trio of Bancks, Hamilton, and Jasek before McEneny had a shot stopped as well. At the other end, Olofsson got a wrister away from in close that Kulbakov made an alert save on, before shutting down a Dalton Smith backhander.

Alex Nylander followed up with a chance of his own when he found himself all alone in front of Kulbakov and fired up the dangle machine. Kulbakov was wise to his moves and shut him down as well.

I have gushed about the work that Lukas Jasek does in board battles this season and he came with more of that today, as is his way. I just love the way this young man goes to work along the boards in all three zones.

All the board work in the world wouldn’t have kept Olofsson from sneaking in behind the Comets defence for a chance, but the Comets netminder stymied him with another save. Kulbakov was the busier man between the pipes today. He would make another save on Olofsson before we saw some new line combos for a couple of shifts.

First, we saw Cam Darcy with Pyatt and Boucher before another trio of Gardiner, Gaunce, and Kero rolled over the boards. The line juggling wouldn’t last long as Trent Cull put things back to normal soon after.

Kulbakov had to come up with another save before Jasek had his shot from the high slot gobbled up by Wedgewood for a whistle. Kulbakov gloved down another shot at the other end to keep the game tied at three.

Tanner Kero missed a couple of shifts, and I’m not sure if it was injury or equipment related, but he would soon reappear and all was right again with the Comets numbers.

Carter Bancks had a nice backhander gloved down before his line went back to work with a beastly forecheck. Kero followed up with a deft stick to knock a puck down in the offensive zone to gain possession. Boucher got a hot-shot away and Wedgewood flashed the leather to keep the game tied at three.

The Darcy line followed up with another good shift, but only managed a Brendan Gaunce offering wide of the net. The Comets would get a late chance to put this one away when Andrew Oglevie was dinged for slashing at the 17:39 mark. Hey, for once it wasn’t the Comets taking a late penalty, right?… Wrong!

Victor Olofsson had a shorthanded chance kicked aside by Kulbakov before Reid Gardiner was whistled for a high-stick at the 18:55 mark. Ouch…that one was going to come back to haunt the team.

We saw 46 seconds of four aside play before the third period came to a close. The most exciting part of those 46 seconds was probably when Wacey Hamilton blew up Brendan Guhle behind the Comets net with a big hit. We were off to overtime.

Rochester showed an 11-5 advantage in shots for the third period.

This one ended quickly as Zach Redmond scored just 38 seconds in to win the game for his team. The goal was the 21st of the season for him, while Simpson earned his 16th assist of the year on the play and Olofsson grabbed his 26th.

That was it for this one. Rochester showed an advantage of 36 shots to 19 and came away with the 4-3 OT win.

Kero (21) from Boucher (26).

Gardiner (1), unassisted.

Brisebois (3) from Thomas (1) and Arseneau (1).

3rd Star: Remi Elie. One goal.

2nd Star: Reid Gardiner. One goal.

1st Star: Zach Redmond. One goal, two assists.

3rd Star: Lukas Jasek. I liked what Jasek brought again today. He isn’t flashy, but he can get the job done. I love the way he works along the boards, and I love his forecheck and energy. He put four shots on the net today to lead all Comets players. That isn’t a pile of shots, but if you are getting more shots on net than Reid Boucher, it has to be considered a good thing. This was Jasek’s third straight game without a point, but he is doing things outside of bringing offensive contributions that bring value.

2nd Star: Guillaume Brisebois. Brisebois picked up his third goal of the season today to match his rookie season high. He is up to 10 points on the season now and might not be able to reach his rookie points total of 18, but I think he can get close if he keeps getting his minutes. He has 26 games remaining to try to match or beat that mark. I saw some physicality from Brisebois in this one as well. I think that is a side of his game that will need to take another step in order for him to have success at the next level, but it is coming along.

1st Star: Tanner Kero. Kero picked up his 21st goal of the season today, a new career high for him, and is now up to 49 points in 54 games. That is some very good production for a team that needs as much of that as they can get. Kero has been a bit of a Mr.Everything for the coaching staff in Utica. He eats minutes as the team’s top pivot at five aside play, he plays the first unit power play and also kills penalties. If the Comets do end up making the playoffs this year, I predict that Tanner Kero will play a big part in any success that the team has.

Game # 56

At Binghamton Devils

Saturday, February 23rd, 2019

7:05 pm Eastern/4:05 pm Pacific