The Utica Comets (AHL) came out of the AHL All-Star break with a split against the Rochester Americans. They dropped their first game on Saturday before exploding for seven goals on Sunday. In that 7-4 win, goaltender Nico Daws picked up his 50th career AHL win.
Importantly, the Comets have been receiving some reinforcements. Xavier Parent, Matyas Melovsky, and Marc McLaughlin each returned from injury and all made immediate impacts, especially McLaughlin, who was skating in his first games of the season.
For last week’s review click here.
Weekly Results
Rochester 4, Utica 1; Feb. 14
Despite outshooting Rochester 30-22, Utica dropped their first game back from break 4-1. Utica outshot Rochester 11-3 in the first period, but was unable to breakthrough which doomed them for the rest of the way.
Rochester scored a goal in the second and outscored Utica 3-1 in the third en route to victory. The lone Comet goal came via Xavier Parent in his first game back from injury. Rochester’s final goal came with an empty-net. Jakub Málek started for the Comets and stopped 18-of-21 in the loss.
Rochester had a staggering six power play attempts (2-for-6) which was fueled by a very questionable five-minute game misconduct major dished out to Matyas Melovsky. Utica’s head coach, Ryan Parent, was also ejected from the game for “abuse of officials.”
Utica 7, Rochester 4; Feb. 15
In the second leg of the back-to-back against Rochester, Utica was on the winning side of an extremely high-even hockey game. In the Comets’ 7-4 victory, the teams also combined for 77 shots.
The teams split the first period, two goals apiece. Goals by Shane Lachance and Marc McLaughlin were sandwiched between two Rochester goals. It was McLaughlin’s first goal and point of the season in his second game back. Melovsky assisted on Lachance’s ninth goal of the season a day after being ejected from the prior game and in his second game back from injury.
Utica took the game over in the second period. Rochester did score to get things started on the power play to begin the second frame. However, after that, Utica scored three goals within roughly five minutes to storm out to a 5-3 lead. The goals were scored by Brian Halonen (15), Angus Crookshank (12), and Ethan Edwards (7). McLaughlin picked up his second point of the game on the Edwards’ tally, Halonen added his second point of the day on the Crookshank goal, and Topias Vilén got his second assist of the game on the Halonen goal.
Utica added two more goals in the third period to extend their unanswered goal stretch to five. Crookshank and Edwards each got their second goals of the game. Halonen and McLaughlin picked up an assist each, punctuating their big games. Rochester picked up a goal with 20 seconds left to make the final score 7-4.
Several Comets had multiple points in the seven-goal outburst. McLaughlin (goal, two assists), Halonen (goal, two assists), and Jonathan Gruden (three assists) led the way with three points each. Crookshank (two goals), Edwards (two goals), Vilén (two assists), and Calen Addison (two assists) each had two points. Nico Daws, en route to his 50th career AHL win, stopped 32-of-36.
Statistic Update
Marc McLaughlin was injured all the way back in preseason and finally made his return to action this past weekend with Utica. In doing so, he posted a three-point game in Sunday’s massive 7-4 victory. After such a long rehab, it is great to see the 26-year-old return to action in such a big way. McLaughlin was acquired in the Cody Glass trade and had six points in 16 games with Utica to end the 2024-25 season. He has 67 career AHL points in 186 games.
Angus Crookshank has quietly had a decent season for the Comets. The 26-year-old, signed as a free agent this offseason, has 13 goals in 35 games this season. He specifically has eight goals over his last 17 games. His 0.56 game score per game (GS/G) ranks second among current Comets who have played at least three games per AHL Tracker.
Shane Lachance, after an extremely disappointing start of the season, has played much better for an extended period of time. The rookie now has 11 points in his last 19 games. He was scoreless through his first eight games of the season. His 0.38 GS/G is second among Comets’ rookies.
Standings Update
With the split, the Comets sit at 14-23-5-3 on the season. Their 36 points are 18 back of the fifth-placed Rochester Americans for the final playoff spot in the North Division. Utica still sits in 31st in the league in total points. They are five up on the last-place Iowa Wild and four back of Hartford and Rockford for 29th.
Upcoming Schedule
Utica has a massive four-game week coming up. They kick the week off with a rare Tuesday night game against the Bridgeport Islanders on the road. They then end the week with three games in three days, two of which are on home ice (Saturday and Sunday). Friday, they play Hartford then have the two home games against the Laval Rocket.
Bridgeport sits fifth in the Atlantic Division. Meanwhile, as mentioned, Hartford has only four more points than Utica and sit 29th in the league. Lastly, Laval still sits atop the North Division with a 31-14-2-3 record which is good for the fourth-highest point total in the AHL.