DINEEN GETS 400TH WIN AS COMETS DOMINATE SYRACUSE

Jan 22, 2022

Utica, NY – In a rematch from just one night earlier, the Comets locked up against their division rival, the Syracuse Crunch inside the Adirondack Bank Center and once again skated away victorious. This time, by a score of 6-3. Utica head coach left the game with his 400^th win of his head coaching career.

 

In the first period, the Crunch struck first on a goal by Gage Concalves as he shot the puck off the post and in behind Comets goalie Nico Daws at 1:59 Later, the Comets power-play tied the contest when Alex Holtz blasted a one-timer off the faceoff at 3:13 Holtz goal was his 10^th of the season. Holtz added another goal and it was again on the man-advantage. Holtz wrister sailed past Syracuse netminder Max Legace on the short side and off the bar at 4:29 putting the home team up 2-1. The Comets power-play was red hot and continued to score and this time it was on a five-on-three advantage. A one-timer blast by defenseman Reilly Walsh for his fifth of the year was tallied at 5:53. The goal by Walsh put Utica up 3-1 after hotly contested first twenty minutes. 

 

In the second period, the veteran Brian Flynn entered the offensive zone with speed and slipped a wrist shot between the legs of Legace giving Utica a 4-1 lead at 7:51. Syracuse found their way back to the score sheet after a faceoff win in the Utica zone and a point shot taken by defenseman Ryan Jones struck past Daws at 13:32. This cut the Comets lead to 4-2. Later, it was the Comets power-play that continued to be on fire. With just 7.2 seconds left in the middle frame, Chase DeLeo took a great pass from Ryan Schmelzer and made no mistake sending it to the back of the net. After 40 minutes of play, the Comets led 5-2.

 

Despite the Crunch striking for a goal in the third period off the Remi Ellie shot that closed the Comets lead to 5-3, the Comets ultimately skated away with a 6-3 win on the addition of a Nolan Foote Empty net goal.  The Comets scored four powerplay goals in the win.

 

The Comets will be back in action Tuesday night against the Providence Bruins. Tickets are still available. For more information, visit uticacomets.com/tickets.