Comets Open 2026 in Laval, Earn Point in 5-4 OT Loss
Jan 2, 2026Laval, QC – The Comets visited Place Bell for the first time this season and fell by a score of 5-4 in overtime.
The teams took to the ice in front of a packed house and it was the Comets who came out the stronger team, owning the first six shots on goal as Laval netminder Kaapo Kahkonen stood strong in between the pipes. The Rocket, however, would bring the crowd to their feet just over five minutes into the contest when Sean Farrell buried a loose puck in Nico Daws’ crease on the power play at the 5:15 mark. It was Farrell’s seventh of the year with Alex Belzile and Laurent Dauphin picking up the assists. The Comets continued to push and earned a power play later in the period when Dauphin was called for hooking at 16:05. After some great puck movement in the offensive zone, Kyle Criscuolo fed Seamus Casey out high whose shot was tipped home by Angus Crookshank to tie the game at one at 17:10 for his sixth of the year. The Comets headed back to the power play moments later when William Trudeau was called for interference and they struck once again. Seamus Casey found Lenni Hameenaho open in the left circle who rifled one past Kahkonen for his team-leading seventh of the year to give the Comets the 2-1 lead at the 19:18 mark.
The eventful pace from the first period carried into the second frame with the Comets scoring just 42 seconds in when Kyle Criscuolo set up Brian Halonen who snapped one stick side past Kahkonen to give the Comets a 3-1 lead. It was Halonen’s fifth of the year with Angus Crookshank picking up the secondary assist. The Rocket found a second wind and brought the game to within a goal when Luke Tuch snapped one off the post and in past the glove of Daws at the 6:04 mark to make it 3-2 on Tuch’s sixth of the year. The Rocket continued to push for the equalizer while Nico Daws made some terrific stops. They eventually tied the game later in the second when Alex Belzile skated in on a 2-on-1 and slipped a backhand past Daws blocker side to tie the game at three on his team-leading 17th goal of the year.
The Comets headed to the power play early in the third period and had the Rocket hemmed in. Right after the power play expired, Thomas Bordeleau fed Brian Halonen at the top of the right circle who fired one past Kahkonen to give the Comets the 4-3 lead at 6:29 of the third for his second of the game and sixth of the year. It was an evenly matched third period, but the Rocket would head to the power play later in the frame and Alex Belzile scored on a wraparound to tie the game at four on his second of the game at the 14:39 mark.
The Comets headed to overtime for the third time in their last four outings. After dominating time of possession and controlling the puck virtually the entire overtime, the Comets were assessed a penalty when Xavier Parent was called for tripping with just under two minutes left. On the ensuing power play, Sean Farrell set up Jared Davidson in the left circle for a one-timer, beating Nico Daws blocker side to win the game for the Rocket on their third power play goal of the game at the 4:06 mark of the extra session.
The Comets earned a point despite the loss. Nico Daws made 35 saves in the game. The Comets were outshot by the Rocket 40-31 while going 2-for-6 on the power play and 3-for-6 on the penalty kill.
The Comets are back home on Wednesday against the Springfield Thunderbirds at 7 pm. For tickets, please visit uticacomets.com/tickets or call 315-790-9070.