Comets Earn Point in OT Loss to Hershey

Jan 31, 2026

Utica, NY – The Comets faced off against the Hershey Bears on Saturday for the first time this season and fell 4-3 in overtime.  

The Bears were awarded a penalty shot just 1:07 into the game when Hershey forward Ilya Protas was hooked on a breakaway by Ethan Edwards. The Bears’ top goal scorer then skated one-on-one against Nico Daws who shut him down with a beautiful glove save. The Bears would, however, jump on the board a few minutes later when Ryan Chesley slid a pass across to Henrik Rybinski in the left circle, snapping one past Daws to make it 1-0 at 4:04 on his sixth goal of the year. The Comets found their stride later in the period and headed to the power play which led to the equalizer when Brian Halonen rifled a shot through traffic past Bears’ netminder Mitch Gibson to make it 1-1 at 16:08 on his team-leading 14th goal of the year. Kyle Criscuolo and Dennis Cholowski picked up the assists. For Criscuolo, it was his 300th career AHL point. Less than a minute later, however, the Bears regained the lead when defenseman Corey Schueneman received a pass from Ilya Protas in the right circle and beat Daws short side to make it 2-1 at 16:46 on his second of the year.  

Trailing 2-1 in the second period, the Comets found themselves on an odd-man rush when Mikael Diotte broke into the offensive zone and fed Cam Squires in the high slot who wired one past Gibson for his third of the year to tie the game at two at 7:31. The Comets weren’t done and would grab their first lead of the game when Ethan Edwards blocked a Hershey clearing attempt in the high slot and rifled a shot by Gibson to make it 3-2 at 14:27 for his sixth of the year which came unassisted. The Bears would head to the power play at the tail end of the second, and forward Ilya Protas jabbed a pass across to Ivan Miroshnichenko in the right circle who let one fly through traffic, beating Daws to make it 3-3 at 19:06 on his seventh of the year. 

The Comets carried the play in the third period, holding Hershey to just three shots on goal, but Nico Daws made some huge stops, including a breakaway bid by Miroshnichenko. After a scoreless third, the game headed to overtime.  

In the extra session, the Bears came out with a determined effort and at 3:42, Ivan Miroshnichenko received a pass from Brett Leason in the right circle and snapped a shot inside the far post to win the game for the Bears on his second tally of the game and eighth of the year. The Comets did, however, earn a point in the loss. 

Utica outshot Hershey 33-18, while going went 1-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.  

The Comets are back home on Friday at 7 pm against the Bridgeport Islanders. For tickets or more information, fans can visit uticacomets.com/tickets or call 315-790-9070.