Utica Comets Beat the Flames [VIDEO]

The Utica Comets scored early and often Saturday night but ultimately just slipped past the Adirondack Flames with a 5-4 win at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

Five different Comets recorded a goal in tonight’s match-up including Brandon DeFazio who recorded his fourth goal of the season. Nicklas Jensen (1-1-2) and Cal O’Reilly (0-2-2) paced the way for the Comets with two points apiece.

As soon as the puck hit the ice in the first period the puck was no stranger to the back of the Flames net. Just 37 seconds into the first period Brandon DeFazio received a pass from Darren Archibald and rushed down the right side of the ice. Before Ortio had any time to react DeFazio sneaked a quick shot just underneath the crossbar to put the Comets ahead.

Just eighty-four seconds later Jensen tipped an Alex Biega slapshot through Joni Ortio’s five-hole to double the Comets lead. O’Reilly was credited with the secondary assist to extend his point streak to six games.

Adirondack finally pushed through towards the tail end of the first period. At 14:38 Emile Poirier buried a quick slapshot from the red dot to the left of Eriksson to make it a 3-1 game.

The Comets quickly returned the favor just moments later for their third goal of the night after Peter Andersson received a pass in the attacking zone from Bobby Sanguinetti. Andersson slid a shot through Ortio’s five-hole to extend the Comets lead to two once again. After allowing three goals on 11 shots, Ortio only lasted 15 minutes before he was replaced by back-up goaltender Brad Thiessen.

Just over two minutes into the middle period Grenier buried a rebound of an O’Reilly shot to push the Comets lead to 4-1. The goal, a power-play goal, was Grenier’s third goal of the season.

Adirondack’s Poirier continued to torture Eriksson with his second goal at the 4:29 mark of the second period. Billy Arnold set up a play behind the Comets net and quickly stepped out to the front of the net and fed a pass to Poirier. The puck beat Eriksson to the far side post and Poirier tapped it in for the Flames second tally of the night. Dustin Stevenson was credited with the secondary assist.

Just three minutes after that, the Comets rookies were back at it again when Wacey Hamilton dished a pass in front to Carter Bancks who scored what would ultimately be the game-winning goal.

13:03 into the second period Bryce Van Brabant received a pass at the Comets blue line from Thiessen that caught the Comets in a line change. Brabant broke loose for a break-away power-play goal to cut the Comets lead to two. Both Thiessen and Max Reinhart took the assists on the give and go play.

For the final goal of the night, Adirondack’s Ben Hanowski slipped a wrist shot past Eriksson on short side to bring the score to 5-4. Corban Knight and Steve Baertschi notched assists on the Flames final goal.

The Comets return to the Utica Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday November 5, against the Binghamton Senators. The game will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday Nov. 5th, and will feature discounted tickets and two-dollar drafts as part of their promotional student night.