Rochester rallies to tie the game but cannot close out the Comets in the shootout.
By Ben Birnell / Observer-Dispatch
UTICA, N.Y. — The Utica Comets closed a home-and-home battle against the Rochester Americans with a shootout for the second time in three days.
Much like the previous game, the Comets came away with the victory over their North Division rival.
Nikolay Goldobin scored the game-winning shootout goal and Thatcher Demko stopped three straight Amerks shooters to help the Comets earn a 3-2 win Wednesday at the Adirondack Bank Center at Utica Memorial Auditorium.
After a thrilling overtime that saw both teams get tremendous scoring chances, Reid Boucher scored in the third round of the shootout to even the shootout at 1. Demko stopped C.J. Smith in the fourth round before Goldobin’s wrister from the slot found its way past Linus Ullmark to end it.
Demko, who had 1.47 goals-against average in six previous starts against Rochester this season, finished with 33 saves to improve to 15-7-5 this season.
It was the sixth time in nine meetings this season the teams needed at least overtime to decided a winner.
The result gave the fourth-place Comets (19-14-4-3, 45 points) their third consecutive win and sixth in seven. The Comets have earned at least a point in 19 of the last 24 games (13-5-4-2) despite being plagued by injuries. On Wednesday, the number of injured players remained at nine.
The shootout win also pushes the Comets’ lead over division rival Laval to six points with a game in hand.
Season series: The teams are even at 1-1-0-0 after the Comets’ 5-1 victory Jan. 7 in Hartford.
The Comets got multi-point efforts from Cole Cassels (goal, assists) and Michael Carcone (two assists) while linemate Darren Archibald, playing in his franchise-record 274th regular-season game, scored
It was the third consecutive loss for the second-place Americans (23-9-4-5, 55 points), who got regulations goals from Kevin Porter and Smith. Ullmark, who had a 1.88 goals-against average in six previous starts against Utica, totaled 35 saves.
Unlike the previous meeting between the teams two days earlier, the teams traded goals in a well-played first period.
The Amerks got the game’s first goal as a power play was about to end. With Andrew Cherniwchan off for delay of game, Kevin Porter redirected in a centering pass from Seth Griffith with 11:17 remaining. It was his 10th goal of the season. It was the second power-play goal in as many games for Rochester against Utica.
The Comets answered later on a tic-tac-toe play with 4:07 remaining in the period. On the goal, Carcone sent a pass near the Rochester bench to Cassels in the middle of the ice. Cassels (11 assists) sent the puck to Archibald, who quickly fired from left circle and in for his fifth of the season.
The line of Archibald, Cassels and Carcone was back at it again early in a mostly strong middle frame for the Comets.
With the teams playing 4-on-4, Carcone broke into the zone on the right side and made a nifty highlight-worthy spin move in the right circle as he drove to the net. His initial shot was stopped by Ullmark, though Cassels was tapped in the rebound for his fourth of the season with 16:59 remaining in the second.
With time winding down in the second, Demko made a sprawling pad stop on Kevin Porter from the right side to keep the Comets ahead 2-1.
However, Rochester made it 2-2 on a quick play with 12:39 remaining in the third period. Leading scorer C.J. Smith helped force overtime when he got a long outlet pass from Stuart Percy on the left side for a breakaway, deked in front and scored his team-best 13th of the season past Demko.