Comets Defeat Amerks, 2-1, In Front of Sold-Out Crowd in Home Opener

Oct 10, 2026

Utica, NY – The Utica Comets hosted the Rochester Americans in their Home Opener at NBT Bank Arena on Saturday night and came away with a 2-1 win. 

Despite not having played in over a week, the Comets had their skating legs and tested Rochester netminder Matt Villalta early on. The Amerks responded with some pressure of their own and would end up drawing the first penalty of the game when Eamon Powell was called for hooking, but the Comets killed it off to remain perfect on the penalty kill so far this season. The Comets would head to the power play later in the period when Amerks defenseman Dennis Gilbert was called for hooking and despite keeping the puck in the offensive zone for nearly the whole power play, the Amerks held the Comets off the board. Comets goaltender Jakub Malek stopped all 10 of the shots he faced in the first period. 

The Comets kept up the pressure in the second and drew another penalty as Rochester forward Trevor Kuntar was called for tripping. On the ensuing power play, Matyas Melovsky fed a loose puck off a juicy rebound across to Lenni Hameenaho who was parked in the left circle and ripped a one-timer past the right shoulder of Matt Villalta to give the Comets a 1-0 lead and their first power play goal of the year just 48 seconds into the frame. Topias Vilen picked up the secondary assist. A few minutes later, Marc McLaughlin jumped on a loose puck in the Comets’ defensive zone, led a 3-on-2 rush up ice, skated into the high slot and snapped a laser past the glove of Villalta to make it 2-0 at 3:54 on his first of the year which came unassisted. Later in the period, the Amerks would get on the board when Maxim Strbak fired a shot off the pads of Jakub Malek, and it bounced right to Matthew Peca who jammed it home to make it 2-1 at the 7:41 mark for his second goal of the year. 

The Comets led the Amerks 2-1 heading into the third and started the period on the penalty kill with Mikael Diotte serving a minor for slashing but killed it off. Both teams played a shutdown game defensively in a tight-checking third period, and Jakub Malek made some terrific saves as the Comets pulled away with a 2-1 win, improving to 2-0 on the year for the first time since the 2021-22 season.  

The Comets were outshot by the Amerks 24-22, while going 1-for-5 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.  

The Comets are back home next Saturday, October 17th as they get set to host the Laval Rocket at 6 PM. For tickets, please visit uticacomets.com/tickets or call 315-790-9070.