Comets Swab the Deck with Pirates with Weekend Sweep
November 28, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release
PORTLAND, M.E. - 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.
Just like the game played the night before, the Comets scored the first goal of the game just a few minutes into the tilt. From the top of the face-off circle, Sautner unleashed a slap shot that screamed over the Mike McKenna's right shoulder for the defenseman's second goal of the season. Michael Zalewski, and Hunter Shinkaruk picked up assists on the goal.
About 10 minutes later the Comets allowed their first short-handed goal of the season when Garrett Wilson skated from his own blue line, into the Comets zone, and slipped a wrist shot from the high slot past Cannata.
The Comets collected themselves before striking twice in a span of 82 seconds. Ehrhardt would be the one that put the Comets back in the lead at the 13:32 mark of the first period. Jon Landry set-up the goal when he drew four Pirates defenders to him, which left Ehrhardt all alone at the top of the circle across the ice. Ehrhardt received the pass from his defensive partner, faked a shot to drop the final Pirates defender to his knees, stepped around him, and snapped a shot past McKenna.
After the goal, Cameron Gaunce was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct when he interfered with the Comets celebration, setting up the Comets next tally.
From behind the net, Linden Vey found Jensen all alone on the doorstep with a pass that Jensen would not miss. Alexandre Grenier also picked up an assist on the play. With the power-play marker, the Comets have now scored a power-play goal in five straight games.
Early into the second period the Pirates cut the Comets lead in half. Cannata made a leg pad save on Rob Flick's shot, but John McFarland crashed the net hard and popped the rebound into the net for his fifth goal of the season.
6:44 into the second period Ehrhardt struck again, this time short-handed. With an offensive zone face-off, Bancks cleanly won the draw back to his defenseman. Ehrhardt quickly wristed a shot into the back of the net from the top of the circle to increase the Comets lead to 4-2. The goal was Ehrhardt's fourth of the season, and set a new season-high total for him.
The two goal lead did not last long, just 59 seconds to be exact. Sena Acolaste collected a rebound and banked a shot off of Cannata's leg pad and in.
Five minutes into the third period the Comets, for the third time, captured a two-goal lead. The Comets caught the Pirates on a line change when John Negrin sprung Zalewski on a breakaway with a home run pass. Zalewski slipped a backhand shot underneath McKenna's pads to extend the Comets lead to 5-3.
An empty-net goal by Alex Friesen with 1:07 left on the clock put the final touches on the victory.
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.
The Comets are back in action when they 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.
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from November 28, 2015
- Griffins Run Streak to Six with 3-2 Overtime Win - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Minnesota Wild Reassigns Kurtis Gabriel and Gustav Olofsson to Iowa - Iowa Wild
- Comets Top Pirates for Weekend Sweep - Portland Pirates
- Admirals Get Back on the Winning Track - Milwaukee Admirals
- Penguins Fend off Furious Bears Comeback - Hershey Bears
- Rampage Outduel Wolves 4-1 - San Antonio Rampage
- Wolves Good, But Not Good Enough - Chicago Wolves
- Checkers Shock Iowa with Wild Third Period Rally - Charlotte Checkers
- Monsters Felled by Griffins in OT, 3-2 - Cleveland Monsters
- Three-Goal Second Period Enough to Beat Bears, 3-2 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Phantoms Stymied by Bruins to Conclude Big Weekend Homestand - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Hartford loses Sat night - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Falcons Topped by Devils in 4-3 Loss - Springfield Falcons
- Whitney's hat trick lifts Bridgeport - Bridgeport Islanders
- Subban's Shut out Lifts P-Bruins over Phantoms, 3-0 - Providence Bruins
- Checkers Third-Period Surge Sinks Iowa 7-4 - Iowa Wild
- Injury-Riddled Albany Devils Push Winning Streak to Three Games - Albany Devils
- Comets Swab the Deck with Pirates with Weekend Sweep - Utica Comets
- Bergman Scores in Final Minute as Barracuda Grab Thrilling 5-4 Home Victory over Stars - San Jose Barracuda
- Shore's Record-Setting Goal Not Enough in Stars' 5-4 Loss - Texas Stars
- Toronto Marlies Post Game Notes - Toronto Marlies
- IceCaps Dominate Marlies 6-2 - St. John's IceCaps
- Red Wings Recall Jurco from Conditioning Loan - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Forward Curt Gogol Joins the Ontario Reign - Ontario Reign
- Game Preview: Teddy Bear Toss Tonight - Bakersfield Condors
- Heat Head to Bakersfield for Back Half of Home-And-Home - Stockton Heat
- Tampa Bay Lightning Recall Mike Angelidis, Reassign Brian Hart to Syracuse Crunch - Syracuse Crunch
- Ontario Reign Game Preview: Reign Close Home-And-Home Series with the Gulls on Blanket Giveaway Nigh - Ontario Reign
- Panthers Recall Olsen from Portland; Pirates Release Army from PTO - Portland Pirates
- Condors Assigned First-Round Draft Pick D Griffin Reinhart from Edmonton - Bakersfield Condors
- Syracuse Crunch Announce Cyber Monday Package - Syracuse Crunch
- Brandon Alderson Reassigned to Phantoms, Cam Reid Signed to PTO - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Minnesota Assigns Folin, Recalls Olofsson - Iowa Wild
- Hogs Flatten Wolves 3-1 - Rockford IceHogs
- Gulls Upend Reign, 3-2 - San Diego Gulls
- Hunter Smith Notches First Pro Points in Wild 6-5 Loss to Bako - Stockton Heat
- Bakersfield Explodes for 6-5 Win in Stockton - Bakersfield Condors
- Mersch Scores Twice; Reign Fall to Gulls 3-2 - Ontario Reign
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
