Comets Suffer First Road Loss, Fall 5-2 to Bruins
Oct 26, 2026Providence, RI – The Utica Comets headed to Providence for their final regular season meeting at the Amica Mutual Pavilion on Saturday and fell by a score of 5-2.
The Comets started off the game strong when the line of Riley Tufte, Ryan Schmelzer, and Cam Squires broke into the offensive zone and nearly scored in the opening 20 seconds, but Providence netminder Jiri Patera came up with a couple big saves. The former Comet, Brian Halonen, was called for tripping just 19 seconds in and the Comets would head to the man advantage. With 14 seconds left in the power play, Xavier Parent was called for high-sticking, and the Bruins headed to their first power play after a brief stretch of 4-on-4 play. Each team was held scoreless on their first power play opportunity, and the Comets would later grab the lead when Gabe Klassen fired a shot from a sharp angle outside the left circle and beat Jiri Patera blocker side just inside the near post to make it 1-0 at 14:01 for his third goal of the year with Topias Vilen and Josh Filmon picking up the assists. The Bruins would answer a few minutes later when Riley Duran sent a wrister from the left circle on goal which was stopped by Comets goaltender David Rittich, but Max Guenette was there to pick up the rebound in the right circle and snapped one past Rittich to tie the game at one at 17:07 on Guenette's second of the year.
It was the Bruins who came out strong to start the second period when Ty Gallagher unleashed a shot from the right point and Attilio Biasca deflected it past David Rittich to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead just 47 seconds into the frame for his first of the year. The Bruins would add to the lead less than a minute later when Dans Locmelis made a nice centering pass to Mikey Eyssimont, who gunned one home from the slot to make it 3-1 at 1:42 on his team-leading eighth goal of the year. The Comets responded in quick fashion, however, when Jack Malone skated in on a 2-on-1 and snapped a blistering shot blocker side past Jiri Patera to make it 3-2 at 2:52 for his first tally of the year. Lenni Hameenaho and Ben Steeves each picked up an assist.
The Comets trailed 3-2 heading into the third period and got an early power play opportunity when Providence's Jordan Harris was called for delay of game, but the Bruins held the Comets in check. The Bruins added some insurance later in the period when Mikey Eyssimont struck at the 14:43 mark on a wrist shot from the right circle that beat David Rittich blocker side to make it 4-2 on his ninth of the year and second of the game. The Comets were awarded an extended power play towards the end of the third after Henri Jokiharju was assessed a double minor for high-sticking, but the Comets were kept off the board and the Bruins added an empty net goal shorthanded after Lenni Hameenaho fired a shot that missed the Providence net and took a flukey bounce all the way down to the Comets' end of the ice and rolled into the net. The goal was credited to Bruins' defenseman Billy Sweezey as the Comets dropped their first game on the road this season.
The Comets outshot the Bruins 30-27, while going 0-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
The Comets are back home this Friday, October 30th against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 7 PM on Frights & Flight Night. For tickets, please visit uticacomets.com/tickets or call 315-790-9070.