2025-26 Season Recap
Apr 21, 2026Utica, NY– The Comets’ 2025-26 season is officially in the books after missing the playoffs by just one point. It all came down to one final game between the Rochester Americans and Hershey Bears on Sunday afternoon and the Comets’ playoff hopes hinging upon a Rochester regulation loss, but the Amerks managed to sneak away with a point in a 5-4 overtime defeat. Despite the disappointment of coming up just short, it was beyond an admirable push by the Comets who nearly pulled off the unthinkable. “I give a lot of respect to our veteran leaders. They really took charge and knew what kind of opportunity was achievable. There was a collective belief and confidence that we could win that next game even though we had a ways to go. Ultimately, it was our leaders who started pulling through and they dragged everyone else into the fight,” stated Comets’ Head Coach, Ryan Parent.
The beginning of the 2025-26 season could not have looked more different for the Comets compared to how they finished. They started the season losing seven straight games and 15 of their first 17, which included being shut out five times over that span. They managed to secure just one point in the month of October, going 0-6-1.
It seemed like the tides had started to turn in November after winning two in a row to start the month, which included knocking off one of the league's top teams in the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, but the Comets would go on to lose their next eight games and came away with points in just two of those contests.
Like November, the month of December started off on a high note, with the Comets winning their first road game of the season and doing so in dramatic fashion, a 4-3 overtime victory in Rochester. It was a wild affair, with the Comets scoring three goals in a five-minute span to start the second period, which to that point had been their biggest lead of the season against an opponent, but the Amerks would respond with three goals of their own to tie the game at three before the second period was over. After a scoreless third period, the teams headed to overtime, and it was Xavier Parent delivering the heroics to secure the extra point for Utica. The Comets would go on to win three of four to start December while securing points in all four games. They finished the month with a winning record of 5-4-1-1, representing a dramatic improvement over the previous two months.
The new calendar year treated the Comets to a four-game point streak and three wins in their first four games in January for the second consecutive month. This stretch was highlighted by an impressive road performance in the opening weekend of 2026 in which the Comets took three out of four points at Place Bell in Laval against the North Division-leading Rocket. The Comets lost 5-4 in overtime in the first outing and then bounced back with a come-from-behind 4-3 win the following night in front of another packed house, thanks to two third-period goals from Ethan Edwards which came less than a minute apart. They carried the momentum into the following week, culminating with a 3-0 victory over archrival Syracuse on Sock Toss Night, the first professional shutout for Comets’ goaltender Jakub Malek. The Comets finished the month with a 5-4-2-1 mark and were dominant on home ice, winning four out of five games with their only loss coming in overtime.
February did not start as smoothly as the previous two months, with the Comets losing three of four to kick off the month, including two losses to division-rival Rochester. The Comets headed into the AHL All-Star break in mid-February sitting 18 points outside a playoff spot. They bounced back with a big win against Rochester coming out of the All-Star break, scoring a season-high seven goals in a 7-4 victory at Blue Cross Arena.
The Comets finished above .500 for the third straight month and started playing some of their best hockey of the season towards the end of February into early March, which featured a season-long four-game winning streak, with three of the wins coming against a key division opponent in the Belleville Senators. Among the highlights during the team’s hot streak was a 5-1 triumph in Belleville in the final game of February, which featured a four-goal second period and a hat trick for Xavier Parent, the first recorded by a Comets player in over a year.
The momentum slowed a bit in mid-March but picked back up later in the month. The Comets headed into the final week of March facing their longest road swing of the season and some of the league’s toughest opponents. After losing to Providence, the Comets made their final trip to Laval where they defeated the Rocket 2-1 in a shootout. It was a game which showcased a late third period tying goal from Calen Addison and a 33-save performance by Nico Daws in route to his 56th win as a Comet, making him the winningest goaltender in franchise history. To round out the month, the Comets made their lone trip to Cleveland where they took both games from the Monsters, winning three straight games on the road for the first time all season and taking six out of eight points on their road swing.
The Comets secured points in four straight games to kick off the final month of the regular season, building to what became a seven-game point streak, their longest of the season. Despite the success, Rochester had started to bounce back after a mid-season slump and maintained its lead over the Comets for the final playoff spot in the North. On April 8th, the Comets sat eight points outside the playoff picture with just five games remaining in the regular season. A week later, heading into the final stretch, they still found themselves on the outside looking in, trailing Rochester by six points. The Comets needed to win their final three games while the Amerks needed to lose their final three games, all in regulation.
After a decisive 3-0 win in Belleville, the Comets clawed to within four points of Rochester heading into the final weekend of the regular season. The picture remained bleak, however, as the Amerks still had three games left and only needed a point to clinch a playoff berth. The Comets were also staring at a challenging home-and-home series against the AHL’s top team, the Providence Bruins, whom they had yet to defeat through the first four games of the season series. Their fortunes changed, coming away with a decisive 4-1 win in which they held the Bruins to a season-low 14 shots on goal. As well as they played, the Comets’ playoff hopes also hinged upon a game two hours west at Blue Cross Arena between Rochester and Cleveland. With the score tied at one in the latter stages of the third period, the Monsters scored to take a 2-1 lead with five minutes left in regulation and hung on for the win to keep the Comets’ playoff hopes alive.
The Comets headed to Providence for their final game of the regular season facing the league’s top netminder, Michael DiPietro, and a Bruins team who was just one win away from setting a new AHL record. Trailing 1-0 after the first, the Comets put together arguably their most complete performance in a single period all season in the second. They scored twice in a 21-second span in the final minute of the frame on goals from Lenni Hameenaho and Colton White to take a 2-1 lead into the third. After Kyle Criscuolo tallied on the power play in the third period to make it 3-1, Providence struck to make it a one-goal game a few minutes later. The Bruins continued to press for the equalizer, but the Comets would go up 4-2 with less than a minute remaining on Jonathan Gruden’s empty-net goal which captain Ryan Schmelzer described as one of his favorite moments from the season. “Heading into that final game knowing what was at stake and seeing us execute the way we did was special. It had a playoff feel and was a tight game with us up by just a goal late in the third. When “Grudes” (Gruden) scored that empty netter, the celebration on the bench and the emotion we all felt was pure joy.”
The Comets handed the Bruins back-to-back losses for just the third time all season while the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins dropped the Amerks in an 8-0 skunking to keep the Comets in the playoff hunt. The clock struck midnight on the Comets’ Cinderella story the following day with the Amerks snatching a point against Hershey, but the fight the Comets put forth was inspirational. They won eight of their last 11 games while losing just once in regulation and went 17-9-1-2 following the AHL All-Star break, turning their playoff dreams into a near reality amongst a sea of doubt. While the sting of missing a playoff berth remains palpable, the Comets and their fans have reason to hold their heads high as the offseason begins and perhaps a renewed sense of faith heading into next season.