Hershey, PA – The Comets faced off against the Hershey Bears for the second and final time this season and lost by a score of 6-3.
It was a quick start for the Bears, scoring just 1:28 into the game on a goal from Brett Leason who was set up by Henrik Rybinski and Andrew Cristall. Leason struck again at the 6:13 mark to make it 2-0 on his 11th of the year after a nice individual move in the right circle, and then snapped a shot past the glove of Jakub Malek. The Comets cut the lead in half later in the period when Nathan Legare ripped a shot from the left circle over the blocker of Bears’ netminder Clay Stevenson for his seventh of the year at the 16:10 mark with Jonathan Gruden and Marc McLaughlin picking up the helpers. Kyle Criscuolo nearly tied the game moments later but rang one off the post.
It was another solid start to the second period for the bears who struck twice in a 12-second span to make it 4-1. Kaden Bohlsen tipped home a centering pass at 5:02 on his second of the season, and then Ilya Protas shoveled home a rebound at the 5:14 mark on his team-leading 20th goal of the year. That ended the night for Jakub Malek as Nico Daws came in on relief. The Comets cut the deficit to two later in the period when Kyle Criscuolo rifled a shot inside the far post past the blocker of Stevenson to make it 4-2 at 17:42 on his eighth of the year. That didn’t last long, however, as the Bears would score with just 0.1 seconds left in the second period on a goal from Andrew Cristall which made it 5-2 at the end of 40 minutes.
The Comets had their fair share of chances through the first two periods, and that continued in the third, outshooting the Bears 12-9 in the final frame. They pulled Nico Daws later in the third period to try and cut into the deficit, but Bears’ defenseman Corey Schueneman would tally an empty-netter to make it 6-2 at 18:10 on his fourth of the year. Josh Filmon scored on a sneaky shot from the left circle moments later to make it 6-3 at 18:58 and that was the final as the Comets’ three-game point streak came to an end. With the win for Hershey, they were able to snap a seven-game winless streak at home.
The Comets outshot the Bears 40-27. Neither team took a single penalty in the game.