The Utica Comets (AHL) dropped two of their three games this past week. The team lost each of the games goaltender Nico Daws started. Meanwhile, rookie Jakub Málek posted his second straight shutout in the Comets’ lone victory of the week.
Other notable happenings his past week was Seamus Casey getting the nod as the Comets’ representative in the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic. Casey has 18 points in 27 games this season, remaining one of the more dynamic offensive defensive prospect in the league. Additionally, forward Lenni Hämeenaho, who has been playing his best offensive hockey, earned his first call-up to New Jersey.
For last week’s review, please click here.
Weekly Results
Crunch 5, Comets 2; Jan. 16
After scoring the game’s first goal, Utica was outscored 5-1 to end the game by Syracuse. Nico Daws got his first start of the week, and suffered his first of two losses.
Brian Halonen, who has been red hot since returning from injury, scored the game’s first goal just over two minutes into the opening frame. The goal scoring picked up in the second period where the Crunch scored the first two goals of the frame, one of which came on the power play. Shane Lachance, who has been much better as of late offensively, then scored a power-play goal of his own. The game sat at 2-2 after two periods.
Syracuse scored the game-winning goal 15:27 into the third frame. They added two more goals in the last five minutes of the game to notch the 5-2 victory. Nico Daws stopped 31-of-35 as one of those last three Crunch goals was an empty-netter. Utica outshot Syracuse 37-36 in the game. Each team’s power play went 1-for-3.
Comets 3, Americans 0; Jan. 17
In their only win of the week, Utica got superb goaltending. Rookie Jakub Málek stood tall and notched his second career AHL shutout in the 3-0 victory over the Rochester Americans Satrday.
Utica scored a goal in each period. Angus Crookshank scored on a shorthanded breakaway to get the Comets a 1-0 lead. Brian Halonen then added a power-play goal in the second frame. The captain, Ryan Schmelzer, iced the game with an empty-netter. It was only his second goal of the season.
Utica outshot the Americans 24-20. They were a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. Málek, in his second straight shutout, stopped all 20 Americans’ shots.
Senators 5, Comets 4 (SO); Jan. 18
In their third game in three days, Utica mounted a two-goal comeback in the third period to force overtime but came up short in the shoutout. Nico Daws took his second loss of the week in the contest.
Utica actually outscored Belleville in the game’s first period. Xavier Parent got the scoring started, and after a Keean Washkurak goal in the middle of the period, Nathan Légaré gave the Comets a 2-1 lead headed into the intermission. Lachance stayed hot offensively picking up his seventh assist of the season on the goal.
Belleville then exploded in the second period as they scored three goals across a span of two minutes. This gave Belleville 4-2 lead after two periods making it necessary for the Comets to mount a comeback if they wanted to get a point. Utica was able to accomplish just that as Légaré, once again assisted by Lachance, got the Comets within one. Brian Halonen then stuffed home a loose puck with just under two minutes left to tie the game at four and force overtime.
It took a shootout, but the Senators were able to notch the game’s second point. Xavier Parent gave Utica a chance, as he scored as the Comets’ third shooter, however, Belleville got their second against Daws in that same round giving Belleville the 5-4 win.
Belleville outshot the Comets 29-23 in the game. Daws stopped 25-of-29 in the loss. Légaré and Lachance each had two points in the contest.
Statistics Update
It has been a troublesome season in net for Nico Daws. Utica is putting a lot on his plate, as he has started 24 of the team’s 36 games. In these games, he has posted a lowly 0.884 save percentage and a lackluster 3.02 goals against average. Among 62 AHL goalies to play at least 10 games, Daws ranks 57th in save percentage and 57th in AHL Tracker’s game score per game metric.
With how strong Málek has been playing, one has to wonder if head coach Ryan Parent and his staff will slowly give him more starts. Since his recall back from the ECHL, Málek has a 0.921 save percentage (seven games). This includes a shutout in each of his last two starts.
Along with Málek, Shane Lachane joined fellow forward Lenni Hämeenaho as one of the bigger disappointments to begin the season with the Comets. As the above outlines, Málek has picked it up in a big way and Hämeenaho has been playing so well he earned a call-up to New Jersey. Now, Lachance is following suit and has been playing his best hockey of the year.
After a three-point week, Lachance now has 14 points in 32 games on the season. Specifically, Lachance has eight points in his last 10 games and 14 over his last 24. Much improved for the former Boston University captain in his first full professional season.
Standings Update
After the results this week, Utica owns a 11-18-4-2 record. Their 29 points rank 31st in the league and trail Belleville by 11 for the last playoff spot in the North Division. Despite playing three games this past week, Utica still has played the second-fewest games in the league (36).
Upcoming Schedule
After having three games in three days this past week, Utica is in for the same type of schedule this upcoming weekend. The Comets’ first two games of the weekend on Friday and Saturday are on the road. They play in Rochester against the Americans on Friday then in Syracuse against the Crunch on Saturday. Their week ends at home on Sunday against the Crunch again at 3:00 pm ET. The Crunch sit second in the North Division and the Americans are fourth in points.
ECHL Update
The Adirondack Thunder lost two of their three games this past weekend but still sit fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 18-11-4-1 record. They specifically rank second in the North Division which would be more than enough to qualify for the Kelly Cup playoffs.
Forward Brannon McManus continues his spectacular season as he leads the Comets with 32 points in 35 games. Center Grant Loven is second on the team with 18 points in 29 games and from the blue line, Jeremy Hanzel, who was acquired in the offseason in the Erik Haula trade, has 18 points in 34 games. McManus’ 32 points rank 13th in the league.
McManus, 26, played in college at the University of Minnesota and the University of Nebraska-Omaha from 2017-2022. He has since played in 225 ECHL games posting 149 points. Meanwhile, Loven, 28, is a veteran of 101 AHL games. He played college hockey at the University of St. Thomas and Canisius College. He has also played in 58 SPHL games where he has 57 points. The SPHL is one of the “feeder” leagues for the ECHL.
Jeremy Brodeur, who was been one of the team’s main sources for their excellent play, has a 0.924 save percentage across 19 games. As a result, he was named an ECHL All-Star this past week. His 12 wins rank third among ECHL goaltenders.