After three-straight winning weeks, the Utica Comets last two-of-three headed into the AHL All-Star break. After a high-scoring affair Wednesday, Utica split a back-to-back against the Belleville Senators, losing the final game before the break in overtime Saturday.
For last week’s preview, click here.
Weekly Results
Americans 7, Comets 4; Jan. 29
Wednesday’s game was a shootout from the get go. Rochester jumped out to a 3-1 first period lead with the Comets’ only goal coming from Nolan Foote (12), which at the time, tied the game at one.
The beginning of the second period brought good news for the Comets, as they scored two straight to get the game back to 3-3. Nathan Légaré (5) and Adam Beckman (8) had the tallies, as Beckman picked up his second point of the game in the second period. Unfortunately, just seconds after the Comets’ second goal of the frame, Rochester answered back, regaining the lead at 4-3 at the end of two periods.
The third period was much-like the game’s first. Rochester outscored Utica 3-1. The score got to 7-3, before Joe Gambardella (4) made the score 7-4 before the final horn. Despite the large margin of victory, the Comets were only outshot 30-26. Nico Daws got the start and had a tough time, stopping only 23 of the 30 shots he faced. The Comets struggled on special teams, going 0-for-3 on the power play and allowed Rochester to score on their only power play opportunity.
Comets 1, Belleville 0; Jan. 31
In the Comets’ lone victory of the week, the team saw arguably their best individual performance of the season by a goaltender. The game’s lone goal came just 4:28 into the contest, then after that, each team was scoreless the rest of the way. Mike Hardman picked up his 12th of the season, Simon Nemec picked up his team-leading 16th assist on the goal.
Despite the win, the Comets were outshot handedly. The Senators generated 37 shots on Isaac Poulter, but were unable to breakthrough, as Poulter posted a sensational shutout. The Comets and their goaltender also had to kill off four power plays. Utica, who has been very strong on the power play all season long, went 0-for-6 on the man advantage.
Belleville 4, Comets 3 (OT); Feb. 1
In the second game of the home-and-home, back-to-back, the Comets came out on the wrong side of an overtime decision. Each team took turns scoring until the overtime period, where the Senators were the first team to score back-to-back goals.
The Comets got the scoring started in the form of the first period’s lone goal. Adam Beckman got his ninth of the season, in what was a very strong week for him. Teams alternated goals in period two, as the captain Ryan Schmelzer got his 10th of the season. On the tally, Nemec extended his team-leading assist total to 17.
As the theme of the game continued, teams once again alternated goals in the game’s third period, as Nolan Foote got his 13th of the season on the power play. Belleville answered back just four minutes later, tying the game at three, where it would stay through the end of regulation. 3:16 into the overtime frame, Wyatt Bongiovanni got the winner for the Senators.
Despite allowing the four goals, Poulter was good overall, stopping 31-of-35. The Comets themselves also generated over 30 shots, as Senators goaltender Michael Simpson stopped 29-of-32. The Comets’ power play finally broke through after struggling in the first two games of the week, going 1-for-2.
Statistic Update
Offensively, Adam Beckman led the way for the Comets over the three-game stretch. The 23-year-old had three points across the three games with four in his last four games overall. Beckman leads the Comets in point per game and ranks 34th in the league in AHL Tracker’s game score per game metric among 199 under-23 qualified AHL forwards. The former Minnesota Wild top prospect is on pace for a career-high 50 points.
Goaltender Isaac Poulter had another really strong week. Thanks to his performances, specifically the 37-save shutout, he has his save percentage up to 0.903 on the season. Over the last seven games, in five of them he has posted a save percentage above 0.900. Over that stretch, his save percentage sits at 0.939.
A last notable is Simon Nemec picking up an assist in each of the three games. He has 11 points in his last 10 games and leads Utica in assists with 17. According to AHL Tracker’s game score per game metric, Nemec ranks sixth among 63 qualified under-21 AHL defensemen. He will be the Comets’ lone representative at the AHL All-Star Classic game and festivities coming up this week. He replaced Seamus Casey who still remains sidelined due to injury.
Standings Update
The Comets 1-1-1 week has them sitting at 15-21-3-2 on the season. Their 35 points still remains the lowest in the North Division, trailing Belleville’s 41 and Syracuse’s 46 directly ahead of them in the standing. If Utica wants to make the playoffs, they would need to surpass each of these teams and finish fifth in the division. The Comets’ 41 games played is two less than Syracuse.
Upcoming Schedule
As mentioned previously, the AHL is going into a short break for their All-Star game festivities on February 3. They’ll be back in action Friday, February 7 on the road against the Crunch. Then, the next day, they’ll return home against Belleville on Saturday. Two very large divisional games the Comets will need to win if they wish to battle up what seemed like an insurmountable hill.