The Vancouver Canucks’ AHL affiliate the Utica Comets have been a sturdy puck possession team that was able to count on stellar goaltending all season long. Then Friday night happened.

Playing in a high leverage Game 4 of their Calder Cup Final series against the Manchester Monarchs with a chance to even the series 2-2,, Utica came unravelled. The Comets fell behind early, with the Monarchs pouncing on two ugly giveaways to score two quick first period goals. Though the Comets were able to level the score before the period ended, they were throttled in the first frame. It was a sign of things to come.

In the second period the Comets surrendered two power-play goals, then goaltender Jacob Markstrom permitted an unscreened rush wrist shot goal with just seconds left on the clock to cement Utica’s defeat – and a 3-1 series deficit.

Read on after the jump.

We’ll upload the full highlight video when its posted, but this was really the only bright spot for the Comets – a pretty passing sequence that resulted in Sven Baertschi first period goal:

And here’s an example of how the Comets came unravelled late. This slew foot resulted in Adam Clendening being assessed a 10 minute misconduct with the result not at all in doubt:

Note: the penalty assessed to Clendening wasn’t a game misconduct, and Steph corrected the record in a subsequent tweet.

And here’s the goal by Los Angeles Kings prospect Adrian Kempe that ended Markstrom’s night. Another unscreened shot from above the circle:

Unlike Rhys I didn’t count scoring chances tonight, but the underlying shot attempt data should still give you a good sense of the flow of this contest. It more closely resembled Game 1, then it did Utica’s stronger performances in Games 2 and 3:

The Comets were essentially out-attempted three-to-one with the score tied on Friday night. They couldn’t hit the Monarchs’ fast ball…

– This obviously wasn’t Markstrom’s night, and some significant regression – both in terms of his results, and in the quality of his puck stopping and technique – couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Comets. With Canucks brass in Utica this week for pro-meetings, at which they’re expected to decide which one of Markstrom or Eddie Lack to keep in the fold, it’s easy to lend a tough performance some additional political weight. We should probably resist that temptation. Every goaltender is going to have nights like this. Markstrom has been so good as postseason that we shouldn’t read too much into his getting beat on a multitude of unscreened 40 footers. It’s too bad it came at a bad time, but it shouldn’t alter our opinion of Markstrom’s abilities or upside.

– The Comets were frustrated late in Friday night’s contest and it showed, with Cory Conacher, Frankie Corrado and Clendening all taking some goon penalties late in the contest. They’ll need to focus up their game tomorrow if they hope to send this series back to Manchester.

– Utica really struggled to handle Manchester’s speed in Game 4. It was apparent on in-zone play, as the Monarchs had several dominant cycle shifts in the first 40 minutes. It was apparent on the breakout, where the Manchester forecheck gave Comets defenders fits and led directly to the first two Monarchs goals. It was also apparent through the neutral zone, where the Monarchs were able to consistently gain the zone with ease, while Utica’s ability to force turnovers and pin their opponent 150 feet away from their goal was non-existent.

– The Comets no longer have any margin for error in the Calder Cup Final. They need to win three straight if they hope to bring the second most prestigious trophy in North American professional hockey to the Mohawk Valley. The Monarchs will have their first opportunity to eliminate Utica on Saturday night.