The Utica Comets (AHL) dropped each of their two games this past week to the AHL’s best team, the Providence Bruins. These losses all but end Utica’s shot at a playoff berth as they are now eight points back of Rochester with two more games played. There are only 11 games left for the Comets.

For last week’s review click here.

Weekly Results

Providence 4, Utica 3; Mar. 20

In the Comets’ first loss of the week, on Friday, they got off to a terrific start but allowed four unanswered goals en route to a slim 4-3 defeat.

Angus Crookshank and Xavier Parent got the Comets out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Crookshank scored his 18th, coming on the power play, and Parent got his 19th. Following that goal, it was all Providence as the Bruins scored three in the second and an empty-net in the third to go up 4-2. Utica did get a goal with seven seconds left courtesy of Crookshank to make it a 4-3 final.

Utica was outshot by Providence 25-22. Nico Daws was in net and stopped 21-for-24 in the loss. Crookshank was the only Comet with multiple points (two goals) in the contest.

Providence 5, Utica 2; Mar. 21

On Saturday, one day after their 4-3 loss, Utica fell by three goals in a 5-2 decision to the Bruins once again. Unlike on Friday, Utica was playing from behind for most of the game, culminating in the three-goal defeat.

Providence scored the game’s lone goal in the opening period. Utica, courtesy of Jonathan Gruden, tied the game up in the second period, making it a 1-1 game entering the game’s final frame. In that third period, Utica was outscored 4-1. The lone Comets’ goal was via Mike Hardman to temporarily make the score 4-2 prior to Providence punctuating things with a fifth goal to end it.

Jakub Málek started the game and stopped 28-of-33. Utica was outshot by a strong margin, 33 to 20. A bright spot was the Comets’ penalty kill that held Providence to 0-for-6. Notably, there were three fights in the game as Nathan Légaré, Jonathan Gruden, and Dmitri Osipov picked up fighting majors.

Statistics Update

Angus Crookshank is having a strong season for the Comets. He had two goals in Friday’s loss which, before his scoreless outing on Saturday, saw him post four goals and seven points over a four-game stretch. On the season he has 19 goals and 30 points over 50 games. Despite this, he is still on pace for his lowest point output in the AHL since his debut season when he only played 19 games.

Jonathan Gruden, acquired in the Cody Glass trade, has quietly had a nice season as well. Gruden, who typically plays in a bottom-six role, has 10 goals on the season. Specifically, over his last 12 games, he has eight points (five goals). Gruden also had an impressive fight in Saturday’s loss where he took down the much larger, 6-foot-7 Riley Tufte.

Standings Update

With the two losses this past week, the Comets sit at 22-30-5-4 on the season. Their 53 points is eight off the fifth-placed Rochester Americans who occupy the final playoff spot in the North Division. Utica also trails Belleville for sixth in the North, but have two fewer games played than the Senators. Utica, importantly, has two more games played than Rochester in fifth. There are only 11 games remaining on Utica’s regular season schedule.

Upcoming Schedule

After a light two-game slate, Utica gets back to the traditional three-game schedule this upcoming week. They open things up on Wednesday in Laval against the Rocket. Then, they end the week with a back-to-back set in Cleveland against the Monsters on Saturday and Sunday.

Laval has clinched a playoff berth already and occupies first in the North Division. They are in a tight battle with Syracuse for the North Division crown. Cleveland has not yet clinched, but their 73 points has them comfortably on the right side of the playoff line, and is good for third place in the North Division as things stand.