Wolves Escape with OT Win
by Mark Caswell, Jr.
Mar 11, 2015The Utica Comets (34-19-6-1) left Allstate Arena with one point after Wednesday night’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Chicago Wolves (29-22-6-1). T the one point extended their first place North Division lead to eight.
Alexandre Grenier (1-0-1) scored the Comets only goal of the night, however Sven Baertschi (0-1-1) continued to impress his new teammates as he tallied his fifth assist in four games since joining the Comets at the trade deadline.
The net stayed empty on both ends of the ice until the start of the third stanza. Grenier opened up the scoring just past the five-minute mark after a wrist-shot from just behind the right dot sneaked over the shoulder of Matt Climie for the 1-0 lead. Cal O’Reilly recorded an assist, as well as Sven Baertschi.
At 15:14 the Comets let their lead slip away after Terry Broadhurst found the bouncing puck outside the slot and buried one past Eriksson’s blocker side for the equalizer. Joel Edmundson received the primary assist on the play.
Chicago’s late third period goal pushed the game to extra time, which panned out for the Wolves as Shane Harper was fed the puck from Brendan Bell for the one-timer at 4:10. With little time to react, the puck flew past Eriksson to give the Wolves’ the game-winning goal. Adam Cracknell tallied the helper with his second assist of the game.
The Comets will be staying put as they prepare to face the Chicago Wolves for a second time this Saturday March 14 at 8 p.m. EST.
Three Stars: 1. CHI Matt Climie (Win, 26 Saves) 2. UTI Joacim Eriksson (31 Saves) 3. CHI Adam Cracknell (2 Assists)