An offensive explosion ended 7-5 in the Utica Comets favor versus the Binghamton Senators Friday night at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. Hunter Shinkaruk’s two goals on the night gave him six goals in six games this season.

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Just eight minutes into the game it would be rookie defenseman Subban who got the game’s first goal. After taking a pass from defensive linemate Pedan, Subban flicked a wrist shot on net. The puck seemingly had eyes as it navigated it’s way through several bodies in front and into the back of the net. LaBate also picked up an assist on the goal.

The early lead would not last, as the Senators tied the game back up just over two minutes later. A centered pass from Ryan Dzingel sprung Tobias Lindberg on a breakaway. Lindberg’s backhanded shot beat Comets’ goaltender Joe Cannata on the glove side.

The Senators took their first lead of the game when they capitalized on a Comets mistake deep in their own zone. Cannata, from behind his own net, coughed up a pass right to Dzingel, who quickly shot it into the vacated net.

With just 15 seconds left in the first period the Comets tied the game back up at two apiece. A four-on-one rush ended with a Jones wrist shot that beat Senators’ goaltender Matt O’Connor on the short side. Michael Zalewski, and John Negrin assisted on the tally.

Midway through the second period the Comets took advantage of a 5-on-3 power-play opportunity when Fedun walked into a slap shot from the high slot. Linden Vey and Alexandre Grenier picked up assists on the team’s third goal of the game.

The Comets doubled up their lead with three minutes remaining when Shinkaruk scored his fifth goal of the season. With the draw set-up to the left of the Senators’ net, Vey won it directly to Shinkaruk who quickly unleashed a shot that snuck past O’Connor. The assist marked Vey’s first multi-point game as a Comet.

It wouldn’t be long until Binghamton would cut the Comets lead in half. David Dziurzynski redirected a shot from Buddy Robinson past Cannata with just 1:12 remaining in the second frame.

Shinkaruk’s sixth goal in six games, and second of the night, came just 39 seconds into the third period. Pedan’s second assist of the game came when he found Shinkaruk all alone at the top of the crease. A shimmy, and a backhand later from Shinkaruk, and the Comets once again possessed a two-goal lead.

Dzingel struck again for the Senators, this time on the power play, to once again make it a one-goal game. After a pile-up in the Comets crease, the puck slipped out to the backside, right to Dzingel, who tapped it into the gaping net.

Just two minutes later the team’s once again found themselves tied. Lindberg took a breakaway pass from Dzingel and beat Cannata with a backhand from close range.

It would be Blair Jones with his second goal of the night that would put the Comets ahead for the third and final time in this game. From the half wall, Jones walked the puck in to the face-off dot to the right of O’Connor before he would unleash a wrist shot that beat the Senators’ goaltender to the short side. Ashton Sautner and Cole Cassels picked up their first professional points with assists on the goal.

Pedan added an empty-net goal to punctuate the game’s scoring.

Binghamton outshot the Comets 32-29, the third time this season the Comets were outshot by an opponent. The Comets power play converted twice on seven opportunities, and the penalty-killing unit allowed just one power-play goal on five kills.

Defenseman Taylor Fedun (1-0-1) scored the lone Comets goal, his second goal in as many games. Forward Hunter Shinkaruk (0-1-1) extended his point streak to three games with an assist in the contest. Goaltender Clay Witt, in his first start for the Comets, made 18 saves in the loss.

The game was locked in a scoreless tie until Devils’ forward Ben Thomson wristed a shot past Comets’ goaltender Clay Witt with just 48 seconds left in the first period. Joseph Blandisi and Matt Lorito recorded assists on the game’s first goal.

Less than three minutes later the Devils doubled their lead when Blandisi forced a Comets turnover in their own zone and quickly fed Mike Sislo a pass in the slot. Sislo took two steps before he fired a shot past Witt for his team-leading fourth goal of the year.

The Devils made it 3-0 when they took full advantage of a 5-on-3 power-opportunity. After the team worked the puck around the zone, Lorito let loose a one-time shot from down low that rocketed past Witt’s glove for the team’s third goal of the game. Marc-Andre Gragnani and Sislo tacked on assists on the goal.

The Comets finally got on the board When Fedun’s slapshot on the power play rifled past Yann Danis for his second goal in as many games. Linden Vey and Shinkaruk recorded assists on the goal.

The Devils added to their lead once again with 8:08 left in the third. Off of a 3-on-1 odd-man rush, Thomson put a shot on net that Witt had an answer for. The rebound bounced to Ryan Kujawinski who tapped it into the net before Witt could get back into position.

Sislo added his second goal of the game when he pitchforked a backhanded shot over a sprawled out Witt, on a partial breakaway to extend the Devils’ lead to 5-1.

The scoring for the Devils mercifully ended when Blake Coleman chipped in a goal on a breakaway with 2:15 left in the game.

The Comets power play converted once on three opportunities, and the penalty-killing unit killed four of the Devils’ five power-play chances.

The Utica Comets completed their three-in-three weekend with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Sunday evening at the Webster Bank Arena. The game came to an odd conclusion when it put the on-ice officials in a position where the results of a reviewed play in overtime would decide who won the contest. Ultimately, the referees waved off a potential Comets goal, which awarded the Sound Tigers the win.

Travis Ehrhardt (1-0-1) and Alexandre Grenier (1-0-1) scored for the Comets, while Joe Cannata made 25 saves in the loss.

Halfway through the first period the Comets struck first with Ehrhardt’s first goal of the season. From the corner, Linden Vey slid a backhand pass to Ehrhardt as he streaked in from the blue line. Ehrhardt chipped the puck over the blocker of Chris Gibson for his 10th career American Hockey League goal. Linden Vey extended his point-scoring streak to four games with the assist.

For the second time in as many nights the Comets allowed a 5-on-3 power-play goal. Ryan Pulock hammered a one-timed slap shot from just inside the blue line past Cannata. Joe Whitney added an assist on the goal for his league-leading 13th point.

One of the wackiest goals of the season gave the Comets the lead once again with 4:17 left in the second period when Andrey Pedan broke his stick on a slap shot attempt. With half the stick flying towards the net, Grenier redirected the off-target puck into the Sound Tiger’s net before Gibson could reposition himself. With the secondary assist, Taylor Fedun ran his point-streak to three games.

Once again on the power play, the Sound Tigers tied the game back up when Justin Vaive redirected a Pulock shot past Cannata.

In overtime, the Comets came out on the wrong end of a crazy play. A shot from Hunter Shinkaruk found its way behind the Sound Tigers’ goaltender. The Comets celebrated the would be game-winning goal. However, the referee immediately waved it off. A quick-thinking save from a Sound Tigers defenseman sprung Alan Quine on a coast-to-coast breakaway where he would score the game-winning goal.

The final play would be reviewed by the officials but the call on the ice stood.