The Utica Comets (AHL) are off to a fast start. After defeating Providence in the team’s season opener on October 2, Utica kept the strong start rolling with a 3-1 record over a four-game stretch. However, they did lose their most recent game on Saturday, putting them at 4-2 on the season.

Please note, going forward our typical “Utica Weekly” series will return. Weekly recaps will be posted near the beginning of each week. Our first “Utica Weekly” of the season can be found here.

Results

Utica 2, Rochester 1 (Oct. 10)

The Comets’ home opener was back on October 10. That contest saw all three goals come in the game’s second period. Utica jumped out to a 2-0 lead by scoring two goals within roughly three minutes of each other.

The first was a power-play tally courtesy of Lenni Hämeenaho and the second was via Marc McLaughlin. On McLaughlin’s tally, rookie Eamon Powell picked up his first point as a Comet. Powell, 24, was a fourth-round draft pick of Tampa Bay. He had seven points in 23 AHL games last year.

Rochester answered back with a goal a few minutes after McLaughlin’s tally, but that was all they got against Utica netminder Jakub Málek. Málek stopped 23 of 24 in his first appearance of the season.

Utica was outshot by a slim 24-22 margin in the game. The Comets’ penalty kill was a perfect 4-for-4. Meanwhile, no Comet record multiple points in the game. Topias Vilen and Matyas Melovsky joined Powell with the assists in the game.

Utica 4, Belleville 2 (Oct. 11)

Utica kept the good times rolling by winning their third straight to begin the season against Belleville. It was another action-filled second period as the team’s combined to score four goals.

Three of those tallies, specifically the first three, came off the sticks of Comets. Shane Lachance got his first of the season, then Marc McLaughlin and Lenni Hämeenaho each followed suit with their second of the season. McLaughlin also picked up an assist on Lachance’s goal, giving him a two-point second period. Zach Gallant picked up the secondary assist on that Lachance goal, it was Gallant’s first point as a Comet. He had five in 39 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last year.

Belleville did respond with a late power-play goal in period two and scored early in period three to make it a 3-2 game. However, Hämeenaho continued his strong early season potting a power-play goal of his own later in the period to punctuate a 4-2 victory.

Utica’s power play had a big game, going 2-for-4. David Rittich stopped 22 of 24 in victory. Utica had 28 shots of their own. Hämeenaho, McLaughlin, and Topias Vilen had multi-point games. Hämeenaho had two goals and an assist while McLaughlin had a goal and an assist. Topias Vilen had two assists.

Laval 4, Utica 0 (Oct. 17)

The first hiccup of the season came for the Comets on October 17 against Laval. The Rocket scored four goals: one in the first, two in the second, and a shorthanded, empty-net goal, in the third.

Jakub Málek was in net and surrendered three goals across only 17 shots. Utica outshot Laval 25-18. Special teams were a major issue for Utica and by far the deciding factor in the game. Laval went 2-for-6 on their power play while the Comets went a staggering 0-for-8 with theirs.

Utica 5, Rochester 3 (Oct. 21)

Utica got back on track with a midweek victory against Rochester on Wednesday. They defeated the Americans 5-3 off the back of a terrific start.

The Comets jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first as Ben Steeves got his second of the season off a beautiful saucer pass from Stefan Noesen. Utica exploded for three more goals to begin period two, two of which were shorthanded. Xavier Parent redirected a pass home from Gabe Klassen before Ryan Schmelzer and Marc McLaughlin scored shorthanded.

Schmelzer’s “goal” was a bizarre one as the Rochester goalie, Matthew Villalta, flung a puck off his own defender and into his empty cage. McLaughlin’s breakaway goal was sprung by a terrific stretch pass by goalie David Rittich.

Following that flurry, things calmed down until Klassen cashed in on an empty Rochester net giving Utica a 5-1 lead. Rochester did add two goals very late to make the final score 5-3.

Rittich stopped 23 of 26, but his performance was much stronger than that as Rochester put in two late extra-attacker goals. Not to mention, he had the aforementioned beautiful assist. Schmelzer and Klassen each had two-point games. Rochester actually outshot Utica 26-20. Each team’s power play was scoreless, Utica’s specifically went 0-for-4.

Providence 5, Utica 2 (Oct. 24)

In Utica’s most recent game, the club dropped a 5-2 decision to Providence. Utica did start the game off strong, outshooting Providence 10-6 in the opening frame and notching the contest’s first goal. Gabe Klassen got his third of the season later in the period. However, following that goal, the Bruins responded just minutes later and that started a stretch of three unanswered tallies going into the second period.

The Comets next scored in the second period, as Jack Malone got his first of the season. Lenni Hämeenaho picked up a primary assist on the Malone tally. Following that goal, Providence got two more in the third period, one of which was a shorthanded, empty-net goal, punctuating the Bruins’ 5-2 victory.

Utica outshot Providence 30-27 in the contest. Their power play went scoreless again (0-for-5). David Rittich suffered the defeat, stopping 22 of 26.

Statistics Update

Through six games, here are how the Comets’ leading scorers stack up:

• Lenni Hämeenaho (six points)
• Marc McLaughlin, Gabe Klassen, Topias Vilen (four points)
• Ryan Schmelzer, Matyas Melovsky, Ben Steeves (three points)

Meanwhile, in net, Jakub Málek has a 0.902 save percentage and a 2.04 goals against average. David Rittich’s numbers were skewed by that last game, and he now has a 0.897 save percentage over four games.

Notably, the Utica Comets have seen their power play success rate drop to 10.7% which is 29th in the league. The unit is riding a 0-for-17 stretch over the last three games.

Standings Update

The Comets have played the fewest amount of games (six) in the entire AHL. For that reason, despite a solid 4-2-0-0 record, their eight points rank seventh in the North Division. Every team in the North has played at least eight games with a couple having already played 10.

The top-six teams, of the eight-team North, will make the Calder Cup playoffs.

Upcoming Schedule

Utica has a two-game weekend coming up. They play Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (4-3-0-1) on Friday in Utica then end the weekend on Sunday against the newly relocated Hamilton Hammers (Islanders) at 3:00 pm ET also in Utica. Notably, Hamilton (2-6-0-1) is the only team in the North with a lower point total than Utica.