The Utica Comets (AHL) won their first two games of the week which extended their win streak to four games and continued a run of really strong play. However, Utica skidded out to end the week with two straight losses which put them back into last in the North Division. The Comets only have 16 games remaining.

For last week’s review click here.

Weekly Results

Utica 4, Lehigh Valley 1; Mar. 3

As mentioned, the week started off well for Utica who defeated Lehigh Valley 4-1 in the opener. The scoring began in the second period when Xavier Parent got his 14th of the season. Nathan Légare (8), Mike Hardman (7), and Brian Halonen (16) then all added tallies in the third frame. Ryan Schmelzer stayed hot picking up an assist on two of the four goals.

Utica dominated special teams, scoring a shorthanded goal, holding the Phantoms to 0-for-3 on their power play, and scoring a power play goal themselves. Despite this, they were actually outshot 28-22 in the game. Nico Daws had his lone strong game of the week, stopping 27 shots in the victory.

Utica 5, Belleville 2; Mar. 6

Utica’s second and final victory of the week came against Belleville. They defeated the Senators 5-2 in a game they dominated outshooting Belleville 27-14.

Xavier Parent (15) got the scoring going on the power play with just one second left in the first period. Belleville tied it up in the second with the period’s lone goal. However, in the third, Utica outscored Belleville 4-1.

The Comets scored three unanswered to begin the game’s final frame. Jonathan Gruden (seven) scored shorthanded before Brian Halonen (17) and Ethan Edwards (10) added goals of their own. Following a Belleville goal about halfway through the frame, Topias Vilén (4) iced it with a shorthanded, empty-net tally.

Gruden and Parent were the lone Comets with multiple points; two assists each. Jakub Málek stopped 12-of-14 in the win. Utica’s penalty kill dominated again, holding Belleville scoreless through five attempts.

Belleville 7, Utica 3; Mar. 7

Belleville got their revenge on the Comets the day after Utica’s 5-2 victory on Friday. Belleville blitzed Nico Daws and scored seven goals en route to a 7-3 victory.

Belleville outscored Utica 3-1 in the first period and 5-1 through the first 23:24 of the game. It resulted in Nico Daws being pulled after facing only 10 shots. Xavier Parent (16), Jonathan Gruden (8), and Cam Squires (4) were the Comets’ goalscorers. Brian Halonen picked up assists on two of the goals.

Belleville foiled any thoughts of a Utica comeback as after the game got to 5-3. They scored two straight to end the game. Jakub Málek stopped 10-of-12 in relief of Daws. Utica outshot Belleville 26-22 in the contest.

Syracuse 4, Utica 1; Mar. 8

In the Comets’ final game of the week, they were defeated by the Syracuse Crunch despite outshooting them 28-24. Syracuse marched to a 4-1 victory.

Syracuse scored the game’s first three goals. Xavier Parent scored Utica’s only goal, his 17th of the season, it was unassisted in the game’s third frame. Syracuse added an empty-net goal for good measure late. Nico Daws stopped 20-of-23 in the 4-1 defeat.

Statistics Update

There is no Comet hotter than Xavier Parent. The 24-year-old followed up his hat trick last week with a five-point week (four goals, one assist). Parent now has eight goals over his last six games. On the season, he has 17 goals, 12 assists, and 29 points across 47 games. He is one goal away from setting an AHL career-high.

The captain Ryan Schmelzer is probably the second hottest Comet. Schmelzer had four points this past week and finished off a stretch of seven points across six games. It was an extremely slow start to the season for the 32-year-old but he has since picked it up somewhat. This season is still on pace to be the franchise’s all-time points leader.

Nico Daws had a very troublesome ending to the week. Daws last two starts featured an outing where he was pulled and one where he posted a 0.870 save percentage. Overall, across his two outings he stoped 25-of-33 good for a 0.758 save percentage. On the season, he has an 0.884 mark which is the worst of his career. Among 75 AHL goalies to play at least 10 games, Daws’ save percentage ranks 66th.

As a team, after another couple shorthanded goals this past week. The Comets lead the AHL in shorthanded goals with 10. Their penalty kill, which has an 82.1% success rate, ranks 12th in the league.

Standings Update

After briefly surging ahead of Belleville in the standings, the Comets fell back to seventh in the North Division. Their 20-27-5-4 record has them eight points back of the fifth-placed Rochester Americans who occupy the fifth and final playoff spot in the North Division. Utica sits 29th in the league in points with 49.

Upcoming Schedule

The Comets get back to a more traditional three-game slate this week. They begin on the road in Rochester on Wednesday before a home game versus Laval on Friday. Utica ends the week on Saturday in Springfield against the Thunderbirds. Laval sits atop of the North Division and Springfield in seventh in the Atlantic Division. Rochester, as mentioned above, sits in the final playoff spot in the North Division so that is a massive contest.