Utica, NY – The Comets faced off against the Laval Rocket for the second straight game on Mascot Day and came away with a 3-1 win.
The Comets had a strong shift to start the game with Jonathan Gruden receiving a pass from Nathan Legare at the top of the crease, but Laval netminder Kaapo Kahkonen made a nice pad save to keep the Comets off the board. The Comets were assessed a penalty at 3:46 when Ethan Edwards was called for interference. On the ensuing power play, Nico Daws made a terrific pad save robbing a backdoor feed to Laval forward Alex Belzile who then took a tripping penalty to negate the rest of the Rocket power play. The Comets would be shorthanded again later in the period and faced a lengthy 5-on-3 which they were able to kill off thanks to some great work by the penalty kill units and Nico Daws in net who turned aside all 10 of the shots that he faced in the first period.
The tight-checking pace continued into the second period with neither team giving the other side much room. Nico Daws continued his strong play in net, stopping all nine of the shots he faced in the second. The physicality turned up a notch towards the end of the period when Laval forward Sammy Blais was called for roughing and Xavier Simoneau was assessed a total of 14 penalty minutes for roughing, slashing, and a continuing altercation infraction. The Comets headed to an extended four-minute power play and with just 30 seconds left in the second, Angus Crookshank tipped home a shot from Topias Vilen to give the Comets the 1-0 lead on his 14th of the year. Kyle Criscuolo picked up the secondary assist.
The Comets started the third period with 1:31 left on the power play, but the Rocket killed off the balance of the penalty. Laval took yet another penalty shortly thereafter when Alex Belzile was called for tripping, and the Comets would not be denied this time when Angus Crookshank fed Kyle Criscuolo backdoor, beating Kahkonen five-hole to give the Comets the 2-0 lead at 4:07. It was Criscuolo’s seventh of the year with Matyas Melovsky picking up the secondary assist. Laval would be assessed yet another penalty later in the period when Sammy Blais was called for hooking and Mike Hardman scored on a wrist shot which broke through Kahkonen from the right circle at 12:51 on the ensuing power play for his sixth of the year. Ryan Schmelzer picked up the primary assist, making him the new franchise leader in regular season points as he picked up his 176th point as a member of the Comets.
The Rocket would make it a 3-1 game later in the third when Alex Belzile finished a cross-crease pass from Sammy Blais at 17:44, but the Comets would prevail for a 3-1 victory as they picked up five out of six points in their 3-in-3 weekend series to extend the point streak to three games.
The Comets were outshot by the Rocket 30-14, while going 3-for-8 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill. The Comets’ three power play goals marked a single-game season high.