Well guys the wrists are iced and ready for the second tilly of this triple header! The Comets look to add on to last nights impressive 5 straight unanswered goals against the Phantoms when they take on the Rochester Americans in a crucial tilt to solidify their place in the top 4 of the North Division, should the team want to contend in the Calder Cup Playoffs this season!

 

Looks like Trent Cull isn’t changing shit from last night, I’ll admit that the top two lines of Gaunce-Gaudsplan-Lind and Boucher-Kero-MacEwen were very effective so its hard to warrant any siginificant lineup changes…that being said…I’d still like to see Gadjovich playing…I’m sorry but the way he’s been deployed in the last month has been pathetic…the kids been having great games, doesn’t take stupid as fuck penalties…fights for his brothers in arms….creates scoring opportunities for his offensive-blackholes centermen (dammit I guess last night didn’t change the label!) but regardless a little armchair gm’ing but I’d love to see a lineup like this

 

LW	C	RW
Jasek	Kero	Boucher
Dahlen	Gaunce	MacEwen
Gadjovich	Gaudette	Lind
Bancks	Woods	Pyatt

 

There is no need for Arseneau, Hamilton or Darcy in this forward group. If the concern is “grit” or “toughness” or “penalty killing” frankly you have Kero, Gaunce, MacEwen, Gaudette, Gadjovich, Bancks, Woods and Pyatt who can provide 1 of, if not 2 of those 3 things already…Hamilton/Darcy and Arseneau add toughness and penalty killing, but that’s when they’re not already in the box for taking stupid as fuck penalties to cover for their lack of skill. I don’t mean to be rude, but they just aren’t playing good enough, have no prospect of achieving anything higher than a 3rd/4th line AHL role so why are we wasting ice time on them instead of giving Gadjovich all the time in the world to adapt with more ice-time….learn through gameplay…not through practices and watching from the stands…get him some fucking games!!! FUCK!

 

Starting Lineup

 

LW	C	RW
Gaunce	Gaudette	Lind
Boucher	Kero	MacEwen
Dahlen	Woods	Pyatt
Bancks	Darcy	Jasek

LD	RD
Sautner	Schenn
McEneny	Chatfield
Leblanc	Sifers

G
Michael Leighton

 

I’m legit surprised they’re giving Leighton back-to-backs in this triple header, Rochester is a much tougher club than Lehigh and Bridgeport…so you’d think they’d have put in Kulbakov and then sandwiched the triple header with Leighton….whatever…I questioned last nights lineup too and they ended up getting goals from their weakest players so what do I know! 😀

 

TRANSACTIONS

 

Once again, Brisebois is up with the Canucks, Cliff Watson has been sent back down to the ECHL and Tanner MacMaster was traded to Toronto for current 3rd pairing D-man Stefan LeBlanc.

 

Benched	—	—	—	—
Arseneau	Gadjovich	Hamilton	Saucerman
3	2	3	2

 

*eyeroll emoji*…

 

RE: INJURY REPORT

 

Injury Report	—	—	—
Bachman	Blujus	Graham	Juolevi
Out for the Season	hand	upper body injury	Out for the season

 

Streamable Clarity Improvement Notice

 

Continuing with last issues theme, going to be Players full name (jersey number) – place in streamable (if not outright obvious) then every sub sequential play featuring that player it’ll be last name(jersey number) – place in streamable (if not outright obvious) I’m also going to reduce the amount of hyperlink in the GOAL streamables, since that’s what I think MOST people are here for and don’t want some gaudy blue taking up the screen.

 

1st period

 

Comets in Blue

 

• incredibly early chance from Lukas Jasek(#9) as he picks up a puck from his wheelhouse along the boards and gets a shot off on goal
• GOAL – ROCHESTER – 1-0 Amurks : yeesh, good start…Reid Boucher(#24) tries a cross ice pass to a trailing Ashton Sautner(#6) but it’s through 3 Amurk bodies, so they easily pick it up and send it down the ice for Wayne Simpson who goes backhand on a sprawling Michael Leighton to open the scoring early
• Zack MacEwen(#15) showing off hi speed as he goes end to end and passes nearly everyone on the ice to retrieve a clearing attempt from Luke Schenn(#23)
• Adam Gaudette(#17) picking up from where he left off last game with some dirty dangles around 3 Amurk players to set up Kole Lind(#13) for the zone entry
• Schenn(#23) picks up a clearing attempt at center ice and gives it to Brendan Woods(#2 1)who goes cross ice to Jonathan Dahlen(#54) for a slapper on goal, Tom Pyatt(#20) follows up with a shot of his own
• Hooking minor gets called on Brendan Woods and the Comets go the penalty kill for the first time tonight. Utica has the 12th ranked PK in the league, while Rochester has the 2nd best powerplay on the road with a 26.9% completion rate
• First PK unit, MacEwen, Bancks, Sautner, Schenn. 2nd PK shift, Gaunce slots in for MacEwen
• 2nd PK Unit, Pyatt, MacEwen, Chatfield, Sifers – 3rd PK Unit, Boucher, Kero, Sautner, Schenn
• Penalty gets killed effectively, managed to prevent any shots on goal
• Lind(#13 ) takes a pass from Jaime Sifers(#26) to lead the zone entry gets a huge backwards reach to retain the puck, and then passes it to Brendan Gaunce(#16) in front for a shot on goal: Peep that reach back of his to keep control of the puck, slick stuff
• Evan McEneny(#2) fans on a puck he gloves down, and Jalen Chatfield(#5) again hits the breaks too far out of reach, leading to an easy zone entry for the Amurks
• Gaudette(#17) picks up the puck along the boards and sends a no-look pass in front of his own net that almost gets picked up by the Amurks’ Rasmus Asplund: yikes that could’ve been a bad one
• Comets have an offensive draw poke checked away and Chatfield(#5) once again misses the puck by a mile and McEneny( #2)is left to cover him on the backcheck
• Big chance for the Comets; Schenn(#23) catches the Amurks with 4 men too far up and springs Tanner Kero(#10) for a 2-on-1 with Reid Boucher(#24). Kero spins for a great pass to Boucher, but Boucher takes too long to take his shot and the save is made
• Woods(#21) picks up his 2nd hooking penalty of the period: pretty soft call, but a pretty bad look
• [look at that veteran leadership showing the kids how hockey should be played at the pro level, here Carter Bancks(#34) is on the Comets penalty kill forechecking deep with Gaunce(#16) and needlessly cross-checking an Amurk for possession
• Comets to the 5-on-3 Penalty kill
• GOAL – ROCHESTER – 2-0 Amurks: The Amurks capitalize on the 5-on-3 as Danny O’Regan sets up Victor Olofsson for the one timer in the open lane on Leighton’s left side
• isn’t much but Bancks(#34), after serving time for his penalty, leads a zone entry then scrambles with Gaudette(#17) to hold possession in the Amurks zone ; just wanted to highlight Gaudette’s nice little over-skate of the puck before tipping it to Bancks
• Comets to the powerplay with 2 minutes left in the first period after Gaudette draws a tripping minor on Brandon Hickey
• 1st unit powerplay: Gaudette, Kero, MacEwen, Boucher, McEneny
• a brutal early whistle blows a Gaudette(#17) scoring chance for the Comets on the powerplay
• 1st unit double shifted
• Amurks goalie Adam Wilcox absolutely ROBS Boucher(#24) after he rips a massive one timer off a great pass from McEneny(#2)
• 2nd Unit rolls out but time expires on the powerplay and we head to the 1st intermission!

 

Score at the end of the first period: 2-0 Comets

 

I’m pretty sure I said it in the last Farmies, but the Comets need to play a very disciplined game against the Americans so as to not get Futtbucked by their incredible powerplay…and sure enough the team takes 3 absolutely stupid penalties from their key penalty killers to allow the Amurks a way to extend their lead after an absolutely atrocious first goal. The Amurks are number one in the North Division for a reason, as they absolutely PUNSISH teams for their mistakes.

I also harken back to my earlier comment about wasting roster spots on veteran “leadership” if they’re providing nothing offensively while putting their team at a constant disadvantage with bad penalties… that’s 3 in one period…whether they smarten up in the 2nd is a total mystery to me. The Comets were heavily out possessed and were outshot 11 to 7 in the first, so maybe they find some energy to generate something

 

2nd Period

 

• Comets after a long shift get caught too far up as Chatfield(# 5)is left to defend a 2-on-1 breakaway that Leighton denies
• GOAL – UTICA – 2-1 Amurks: Dayum, McEneny( #2) prevents an Amurk zone entry attempt with a slick poke check up to Boucher(#24) who tips it for MacEwen(#15) who fakes out Wilcox and then rifles it top shelf to close the gap and put the Comets on the board!
• alternate angle showing how long he looked to Boucher before wristing it past Wilcox, fantastic snipe
• GOAL – UTICA – 2-2 TIE: Wow another quick two for the Comets! MacEwen(#15) wins the draw to Schenn(#23) who slaps one on goal where Zack MacEwen is there to pick up the rebound and slide it over to Boucher(#24) who ties the game at 2. Two goals in 27 seconds and the Amurks call for a time out to get their shit together
• GOAL – UTICA – 3-2 Comets: Jesus make that 3 goals in 58 seconds for the Comets…as Brendan Woods(#21) picks up a pass from Pyatt(#20) and then sends a hard pass to the Amurk blue line and Dahlen(#54) is there to dangle between the legs of the Amurk defender and make it 3 unanswered for the Comets…jesus what a move from Dahlen…and at even strength too!
• Boy this team really wants me to shut up about playing Dahlen with guys who don’t produce haha
• Rochester intelligently playing VERY physical against Gaudette…the guy cant skate 10 feet without being muscled down to the ice…the Amurks coaches know he’s a DANGEROUS, DANGEROUS player anytime he has the puck….sucks for my streamables and the Farmies readers but very smart for the Rochester team
• back to back huge chances for the Comets, first a 3-on-1 lead by MacEwen(#15) and the second a takeaway from Boucher(#24) leading to a huge chance for Kero(#10)
• Pyatt(#20) with the plays as he strips the puck to create a scoring opportunity for Dahlen( #54) and Woods(#21)
• Damn word must’ve hit Utica that the Canucks were looking to call someone up in the wake of Baertschi’s injury…cause they are playing HARD this period
• Boucher(#24) with his second takeaway and walks around 3 Amurks for a shot that goes off the post and out of play
• The Amurks Wayne Simpson picks up a high sticking minor to put the Comets on their 2nd powerplay of the night
• 1st unit: McEneny, Boucher, Gaudette, MacEwen, Kero
• lot to unpack here; MacEwen(#15) strips the puck to prevent a shorthanded chance for the Amurks, turns and leads the zone entry, passes to McEneny(#2) who sets up Gaudette(#17) for a one timer on goal that MacEwen(#15) goes to the net for
• 2nd unit: Dahlen, Schenn, Jasek, Pyatt, Gaunce
• Gaunce(#16) with a slick rink wide pass to Lind(#13) who gets robbed by the glove of Adam Wilcox
• Carter Bancks took a hard hit into the boards on his last shift so things starting to get shuffled, as we now get Darcy, Jasek and Boucher for a defensize zone start
• Leighton with the glove save with 53 seconds left in the second period after the Amurks hold the blue line

 

The Score at the end of the 2nd period: 3-2 Comets

 

Momentum swings heavy in the Comets favor early in the second as they rattle off 3 unanswered for the second time in two nights back to back. Shots were still relatively close as the Amurks started to find their footing on the back end of that period…Comets still outshot the Amurks 15 to 12…Still a tight one, Rochester loves to punish mistakes and at any moment this game could turn on its head. Will be interesting to see how the lines shake up in lieu of a possible injury to Carter Bancks. We saw Jasek, Boucher and Darcy but I don’t see that playing out into the third period.

 

3rd Period

 

• End to end play for both teams but no significant shots on goal
• Lind(#13) leads a drive to the Amurks net, and a trailing Gaudette(#17) follows the play only to take an elbow from Matt Tennyson right to the face upon arrival
• Gaudette signaled to the Comets athletic trainor to go down the tunnel to get looked at immediately…don’t like the looks of that
• Penalty gets called on Andrew MacWiliam for hooking so the elbow from Tennyson goes uncalled
• Comets on the powerplay; Dahlen(#54) sets up MacEwen( #15)on the doorstep and he gets absolutely robbed by the glove of Wilcox
• Penalty expires on MacWilliam and the Comets still control in the Amurks zone off good blue line control from Schenn and Jasek
• MacEwen(#15) blocks a shot and then leads a rush the other way, setting up Bouche(#24) for a shot but he sends it wide
• on the ensuing play MacEwen draws a tripping penalty from Rasmus Asplund putting the Comets on their 4th straight powerplay
• Boucher(#24) with a huge cross-ice feed to Gaudette(#17) but he too gets robbed by Wilcox
• Carter Bancks, during stoppage in play after the above whistle heads down the tunnel with the athletic trainor, something obviously wrong here
• Boucher(#24) with another takeaway and shot on goal that seems to roll horizontally along the goal line for another stoppage in play
• (GOAL – UTICA – 4-2 Comets: make it 4 unanswered again, as MacEwen(#15) wins the faceoff draw straight to Boucher(#24) who slaps one on goal for his 2nd of the game. That’s Boucher’s 9th shot on goal this game, Jesus what a laser beam. That’s MacEwen’s and Boucher’s 3rd point of the night each
• Gaunce(#16) goes cross ice to Ashton Sautner(#6) as he steps into the play and sets up Gaudette(#17) for an easy tap-in goal as Wilcox is wayyyyy out of position but he absolutely whiffs and sends it wide… Oof he’ll want that one back
• Comets struggling around the 5 minute mark to clear, fortunately for them the Amurks are just shooting completely wide of the net.
• Rochester pulls the goalie with 2:30 left in the period
• GOAL – UTICA – 5-2 Comets: Boucher(#24) makes it a hat trick on the empty net after MacEwen(#15) unselfishly sets him up after Boucher himself pokes the puck to him from the Comets d-zone. 5 unanswered goals for the second night in a row against an incredibly tough opponent
• Comets were to date the only team who had YET to win a game after trailing in the first period. Their record till now after trailing the first period was 0-11-1-0…BRUTAL record broken in their 50th game

 

The Score at the end of the 3rd period: 5-2 Comets

 

Damn what an impressive third period, granted some of those goals were softer than baby shit…but they got the job done. 5 straight unanswered goals to win it in regulation for the second night in a row…Kind of hilarious that after two periods of Gaudette and Lind looking like the only offensive dynamos this game, the guys who id been shitting on for not producing lately all come up to contribute offense. Now I have nothing to complain about…what the fuck guys? How could you do your Farmies bro like this? I just kind of blocked out what I wrote in last night’s game summary because this was a total rinse and repeat! The Comets dominate in the third, outshooting the Amurks 13 to 4

 

Final Score 5-2 Utica Comets

 

Scoresheet

 

Period	Team	Goalscorer	Primary assist	helper	type
1st	Rochester	Wayne Simpson	Taylor Leier	—	5v5
1st	Rochester	Victor Olofsson	Danny O’Regan	—	PPG
2nd	Utica	Zack MacEwen	Evan McEneny	Reid Boucher	5v5
2nd	Utica	Reid Boucher	Zack MacEwen	Luke Schenn	5v5
2nd	Utica	Jonathan Dahlen	Brendan Woods	Tom Pyatt	5v5
3rd	Utica	Reid Boucher	Zack MacEwen	—	PPG
3rd	Utica	Reid Boucher	Zack MacEwen	Tanner Kero	EN

 

Takeaways

• Well I guess this means Jonah Gadjovich is never playing for the Comets again this season haha…that is unless he slides in for an injured Carter Bancks. Super impressive performance against the number one team in the North Division. Massive comeback two nights in a row back to back, both times 5 unanswered…I mean their powerplay still needs work but if they can rattle off 10 even strength goals to win games where they were trailing by two…I mean props to them that’s impressive as fuck.
• It’s kind of funny, I think the Amurk team prepped so hard to deny Adam Gaudette from getting his game going with Gaunce and Lind that it completely opened up the MacEwen/Kero and Boucher line to just run train all game.
• Lind continues to impress with his crisp passing game and playmaking, he and his line didn’t find the back of the net tonight, but the attention the Amurks had to pay to them was major factor in their other line being able to generate such tremendous offense.
• Really hope the AHL takes a look at that elbow…Gaudette returned to the game but still, such a reckless play that could only have one outcome, and that was to injure
• Luke Schenn and Evan McEneny continue to impress as stable defenders every game…I have no clue what is going on with Jalen Chatfield though as he looks completely lost or something for a bulk of the early game…constantly hitting the brakes way too soon or way too late, missing every pokecheck, passes that are too hard or too soft. Really not sure what’s going on with him, but as someone who’s been singing his praises hard in anticipation of next summers training camp, I really hope this is just something to do with his long stint on the bench…hopefully he’s able to turn it around, because the team misses his stability as he was never usually the one to be an anchor for his pairing.
• Dahlen gets two points at 5v5 in back to back games playing with a guy who isn’t known for being a playmaking center…this speaks to Dahlens very apparent skill in that he elevates those he plays with…he still has stuff he needs to work on, but I think the last two games are definite marks of improvement for him and highlights his ability to elevate the games of people around him…I’m very interested in how he looks in next years training camp because, and I take a deep breath for this one, I really hope Canucks fans remember that he is stepping into one of the top 5 best leagues in the world from the 2nd tier Swedish league and is producing, even if most of them are from the powerplay, I think his strides as of late in being able to get someone like Brendan Woods producing at even strength is a testament to how good he is and can be. I wouldn’t write him off yet guys, I think he still has more to show
• If the Comets roll out another 5 unanswered goals tomorrow afternoon against Bridgeport that’ll be legitimately insane.
• oh yeah call up MacEwen and put him in over Erikkson or Granlund…just look at that hustle on that one play, or his snipe, or the fact that he is the reason this team scored 4 goals at even strength to comeback from a 2 goal deficit to win. This guy would be such a great complimentary piece to Bo Horvats game…instead of having Bowie lead every zone entry, carry the puck down the wing, taking every draw, literally doing everything for his line while still scoring, give him someone like MacEwen who shows the same hustle, the same goalscoring ability and more…god …its his time…bench Erikkson while Baertschi’s out and give the MacDaddy a look…PLEASE

 

Comets Three Stars

1. Reid Boucher – 3 goals, 1 assist – 10 shots on goal
2. Zack MacEwen – see all streamables from above, 1 goal, 3 assists – 4 shots on goal
3. Michael Leighton – back to back impressive nights, tonight savings 25 of 27 and the previous night IN A VERY BIZARRE CIRCUMSTANCE, ALSO SAVING 25 OF 27!

Honorable mentions: Luke Schenn and Evan McEneny

 

What’s Next?

 

The icepacks are back on, for now until tomorrow morning when the Comets visit the Bridgeport “Sound Tigers” in an away game to wrap up this triple header! The Sound Tigers are 3-2-0-0 in their last 5 and sit 2nd in the AHL’s Atlantic Division with 58 points. The last time these two met the Comets lost 4-3 in overtime…as they only meet twice this season it’ll be interesting to see what kind of adjustments Cull makes to the lineup…he might just roll out the same shit again and I honestly wouldn’t blame him at this point…I do want Gadjovich to get at least 1 game in this triple header…if he gets benched for all 3 then I expect outrage from Vancouver media. I’m only one man and cant rattle cages just myself!

 

Until tomorrow though, I Hope you guys enjoyed this edition of the Farmies, and as always any feedback, improvement suggestions, content or highlights you’d like me to focus/pick out during games, let me know and I’ll do my best to provide during the next Farmies!