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The Utica Comets posted a third-straight winning week and arguably their biggest this recent winning stretch. The Comets went 3-1 led by a prolific offense. Specifically, Brian Halonen and Xavier Parent led the way, while Jack Malone notched his first career professional hat trick.
For last week’s review, please click here.
Weekly Results
Comets 2, Crunch 1; Jan. 20
The Comets got the week started off right, in a defensive battle of sorts against the team currently occupying the last playoff spot in the North Division. Both of Utica’s goals were scored by one of the team’s top performers of the week in Xavier Parent. Parent scored in the first and second periods, good for his sixth and seventh goals of the season.
Despite having the two goals, Parent may have not even been the best Devil in the game. In between the pipes, Isaac Poulter stopped 26-of-27 en route to victory. The Comets were only able to muster 18 shots on goal, but made them count. Utica’s penalty kill was also very strong in the game, as they held the Crunch power play scoreless across four opportunities.
Comets 7, Islanders 1; Jan. 22
On Monday, the Comets relied on strong finishing and good goaltending, however, on Wednesday, it was the offense that shined brightly. Against the worst team in the AHL, the Bridgeport Islanders, the Comets posted a seven-spot as the game got out of hand extremely early.
In his first full professional season, Boston College alumni Jack Malone notched a natural hat trick. Malone scored each of the game’s first three goals all in the first period. After scoring just 40 seconds in, he completed the natural hat trick just 7:33 into the contest. Malone, who played at both Cornell and Boston College during his collegiate career, had 25 points across 41 games in his final year at B.C. He now has six goals and no assists through his first 28 AHL games.
Malone wasn’t the only Comet to score in the first period. Nolan Foote (10) and Mike Hardman (11) each got tallies to end the first frame. When it was all said and done, the Comets led 5-0 after the first period.
The rest of the scoring did not occur until period three. The Comets followed the Islanders’ lone tally of the game with two more of their own; Halonen (14) and Foote (11). Despite the seven goals, the Comets only had 26 shots in the game. Their goalie, Poulter, actually faced more work, but was once again up for the task posting another strong performance, stopping 29-of-30.
Of course, in a 7-1 victory, there are going to be a lot of players on the scoresheet. Leading the way was Foote, who had four total points. Additionally, Malone had his three goals, while Max Willman, Topias Vilen, Hardman, and Halonen all each had multi-point efforts. Despite all the scoring, only one of Utica’s goals came on the power play (1-for-3). Bridgeport’s lone goal came on the man advantage (1-for-4).
Comets 5, Penguins 3; Jan. 24
On Friday, the Comets faced the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the team’s first of a back-to-back together. In that first game, the Comets kept the good times rolling, scoring five more goals and extending their win streak to four games.
Utica jumped out to an early lead in period one, as Halonen stayed red hot and fired home his 15th goal of the season just under five minutes into the game. It was the Penguins that then responded, however, after that, Utica got one more tally with around four minutes left in the first frame. The veteran defenseman Colton White picked up his second of the year, which was assisted by captain Ryan Schmelzer; his first of two points in the game.
Utica kept that momentum going in the second period, as Xavier Parent continued his goal-scoring tear, potting his eight of the season just over two minutes into the second period. However, once again, the Penguins responded, as NHL veteran Jesse Puljujärvi got his first of the year, on the power play, which brought the Penguins’ deficit to just one before the final frame.
Parent extended the Comets’ lead back out to two halfway through the final frame. The Penguins tried making a late push, as they got the game to 4-3 with around two minutes left. However, Schmezler spun a seeing-eye clearance attempt from the Comets’ end while facing an extra-attacker, which somehow found the empty Penguins goal, putting the Comets up for good, 5-3.
It was Nico Daws turn to occupy the crease, as the 24-year-old, who is still working his way back from injury, stopped 32-of-35 in the winning effort. In the other net, it was another NHL veteran in Tristan Jarry. Jarry had a tough go of it, allowing four goals on only 26 Comet shots.
Penguins 2, Comets 1; Jan. 25
It took until the last game of the week for the Comets to finally lose. The Penguins, who sit fourth in the Atlantic Division, came from behind and tallied a slim 2-1 victory on the second half of the back-to-back.
As alluded to, the Comets once again started the game strong, as Shane Bowers tallied his only second goal of the season. However, just over a minute later, the Penguins responded tying the game at one. The deciding goal in the contest did not come until the game’s third period. Vasily Ponomarev got his ninth of the season after Utica turned the puck over in their own zone just three minutes into the game’s final frame.
Daws once again manned the cage, getting back-to-back starts. He stopped 22-of-24. On the other side of the ice, Sergei Murashov got the start after Jarry’s struggles the night before. He was really strong, saving 29-of-30 against. The Comets’ power play, which has been very strong overall (eighth best success rate in the AHL) went 0-for-3 in the game.
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Statistic Update
The forward duo of Brian Halonen and Xavier Parent had huge weeks. Halonen had five points (three goals, two assists) to go along with 10 shots over the four games during the week. On the season, he now sits at 24 points (15 goals) in 34 games. His 0.74 game score per game (GS/G), according to AHL Tracker, is second on the team and ranks 43rd of 338 AHL forwards to play at least 15 games this season.
Meanwhile, Parent had two, two-goal games over the last week. Over his last seven games, he has eight points (six goals); he has really picked it up after a very slow start. Parent’s prior successes to the AHL have been well documented (106 points in 55 QMJHL games his final year of juniors) and is slowly starting to come to him for Utica. He is on pace for 20 goals which would top his 15 from last year in fewer games.
Isaac Poulter also had a really nice week in two starts. Across these two he stopped 55-of-57 shots good for a 0.965 save parentage. If you extend that window over the last three games, he has a 0.963 save percentage. Poulter played his strongest hockey of the season right before getting called up following the Jacob Markström injury.
Standings Update
After a 3-1 week, the Comets continue to try to climb up what was a massive hill in the North Division standings. The Comets currently sit at 14-20-2-2 on the season, good for 32 points. This puts them five behind the Belleville Senators for sixth, but still 13 behind the Crunch who occupy the last playoff spot in fifth. Utica does have three less games played than Syracuse, however, still a huge hill to climb.
Upcoming Schedule
The Comets have three games upcoming this week. It starts Wednesday in Rochester against the second-best team in the North Division. Then, another back-to-back series, this time against the Senators Friday and Saturday. As mentioned, the Senators sit one spot above Utica in the North Division standings.