Good afternoon Vancutica Comanuckets fans it’s a gorgeous sunny day here in Vancouver, so what better way spend it, than by sitting inside and reading up on the farm, as our boys in green/blue/white enter the Dunder-Mifflin-Bowl as tonight, the Utica branch takes on the Scranton branch in a battle for supremacy in the Eastern Conference!
The Penguins sit 6th in the AHL’s Atlantic division and currently hold the Atlantic Divisions worst home record at 10-12-1-0. This will be the first meeting of 2 between these two teams, and while the results of their season head-to-head don’t mean much…there are greater implications to this matchup for the Comets Calder Playoff push as they are in a close battle with the Toronto Marlies over that 3rd/4th place spot.
As everyone knows the injury bug has absolutely annihilated the Vancouver Canucks, with this recent road trip seeing the team lose Jake Virtanen AND Chris Tanev to the Anaheim Ducks. Those injuries plus the existing injuries to Alex Edler, Sven Baertschi and Brandon Sutter gurantees lengthy call-ups of Zack MacEwen, Adam Gaudette, Guillaume Brisebois and now Luke Schenn. That’s basically 2 of the Comets most important top six, and their 2nd D pairing up for extended looks with the big club.
First things first though, that’s fucking awesome for them, I’m legit pumped that Macdaddy and Breezer are getting extended looks with the big club, and even more pumped that they’ve been able to slide into the lineup and not stick out as being out of their depth. Also I’m glad that the confidence that Gaudsplan showed in his most recent AHL stint has carried over into this recent stretch of games with the Canucks…a confident Gaudsplan is a dangerous Gaudsplan.
Second thing is, this Utica team has still managed to find points even with their best players out of the lineup; taking the Sound Tigers to OT, and annihilating the Rocket at home was very impressive, and although I’m not too sure what to expect for tonight’s game without Schenn in their lineup, I can’t help but feel like they’ll do just fine…the Rookies came up huge against the Rocket, and seeing as how the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are in a similar echelon of skill as the Rocket, I hope to see them build upon the success they had Wednesday night and we have another successful edition of the Farmies to report! So with that let’s get into tonight’s game!
Starting Lineup
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
| Pyatt | Kero | Boucher |
| Gaunce | Darcy | Lind |
| Dahlen | Woods | Jasek |
| Hamilton | Gadjovich | Arseneau |
| LD | RD |
|---|---|
| Sautner | Graham |
| LeBlanc | Sifers |
| McEneny | Chatfield |
| G |
|---|
| Michael Leighton |
TRANSACTIONS
As stated above, Luke Schenn joins the Canucks after Chris Tanev picked up an injury.
| Benched | — |
|---|---|
| Gardiner | Saucerman |
| 2 | 5 |
RE: INJURY REPORT
| Injury Report | — | — | — |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachman | Bancks | Blujus | Juolevi |
| Out for the Season | UBI | hand | 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 White
- Comets opponent with an unfair advantage as they are unable to be seen out there in their camouflage uni’s
- Lukas Jasek(#9) with the Comets first shot of the game then follows with a takeaway to hold the zone
- Jesse Graham(#64) returns to the lineup for the first time since January 19th and rips a shot through traffic after Kole Lind(#13) clears his path with a nice stick lift
- Leighton with a sprawling save as a shot from the blue line trickles past him towards the goal line
- after battling along the boards, Jasek(#9) comes out to block two shots from the blue line with his stick
- Arseneau, Gadjovich and Hamilton combine for a good shift of pressure in the Penguins zone
- 9 minutes down an really not a whole lot happening
- Jalen Chatfield(#5) and Joseph Blandisi get tangled up for a while on the backcheck and they get in an awkward “fight”
- Comets getting outshot at a massive clip this period. Penguins just throwing everything and anything at the net whenever they gain the zone…Comets with barely any chances after 14 minutes of play
- Jonah Gadjovich(#22) with a takeaway seconds after he steps on the ice for a shift and creates a huge scoring chance for Utica, not many of those this period from the Farm
Score at the end of the first period: 0-0
Well that was dull… lol… Comets outshot 11 to 10 and I have to call bullshit, because there is no way there were 10 shots directly on goal from the Comets in that period. Whole lot of end-to-end hockey but not a whole lot of scoring opportunities from the Comets. Hopefully they wake up in the second because oh man that was fucking dulllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll to watch. Think that might be the least amount of highlights I’ve ever had for a period of hockey from the Comets.
2nd Period
- Minute in and the Penguins somehow take a hooking penalty while the Comets struggle to clear their zone; their first powerplay of the night
- 1st Unit: McEneny, Boucher, Kero, Dahlen, Gaunce
- good start, Reid Boucher(#24) attempts a drop pass to Tanner Kero(#10) with a Penguin player right in front of him leading to a breakaway scoring chance for the Penguins
- 2nd Unit: Pyatt, Jasek, Lind, Gadjovich, Graham
- uh refs, hello? Penguins player crosschecks Gadjovich into the goalie crease, and then their tendy, Tristan Jarry just fully shoves Gadjovich(#22) into the back of his net and gives him a shove to the face while Lind(#13) winds up for a one-timer, pretty fucking dangerous situation the goalie just put a player into had he not stopped Lind’s one timer…how is there no call on this? Like interference or some shit?
- Athletic trainer taking a look at Gadjovich after he reaches the bench
- 5 minutes in and it has been all Comets possession in the Penguins zone this period, good pressure from the boys
- Jonathan Dahlen(#54) moves back to help Brendan Woods(#21) to deny a Penguins drive to the net and breaks up the play with his stick, nice hand eye to strip the puck
- Comets cycling well, and a shot from Graham(#64) creates a scoring chance for Kero(#10) at the front of the net
- Gadj was out skating on a line again and finished a check, went to the bench and then after a minute or so headed down the tunnel, so something possibly bothering him, oh no.
- Couple of huge chances for the Penguins off some rough passes, first a hard pass in the front of their own net to Graham(#64) from Ashton Sautner(#6) then a second uncontrolled cross-ice pass from Woods(#21) to Graham(#64). BOTH leading to huge scoring chances that get blocked by Michael Leighton
- Pyatt now playing with Arseneau and Hamilton
- Chatfield(#5) tries to use muscle to gain possession, while Evan McEneny(#2) opts for finesse as he displays some nice hand-eye to strip the puck and pass to Lind(#13) who goes deep to Brendan Gaunce(#16) for a drive
- Cam Darcy gets dinged for hooking and the Comets go on their first PK of the night
- 1st PK unit: Sautner, Sifers, Hamilton, Woods
- Kero steps on for a quick shift on the PK and kills a bit of time holding the puck in the Penguins zone
- 2nd PK unit: Gaunce, Pyatt, Chatfield, Sifers
- LOT to digest in this one, great work along the boards from Jasek(#9) to cycle, then backcheck’s when he senses play is heading the other way, then Sautner(#6) goes to block a shot and takes it right in the dick
- man Sautner has just had brutal luck, he seemed to recover pretty quick, but fuck me that probably hurt like a bitch to skate through
- Joseph Blandisi gets caught for holding and the Comets go to their second powerplay of the night
- Dahlen gets a great one-timer feed to McEneny who one-times it wide, then the powerplay first unit ends abruptly after a pass around the boards by Dahlen ricochets off the stanchion to a Penguin stick and gets cleared down the ice
- Comets on the good end of a terrible icing call lol, Chatfield totally beat here
- GOAL – UTICA – 1-0 Comets: LMAO oh man I’d be booing so hard…the ensuing faceoff after that awful icing call results in a goal from Woods(#21) as he picks up the puck from a battling Wacey Hamilton(#36) and snaps it past Tristan Jarry to open the scoring
The Score at the end of the 2nd period: 1-0 Comets
Well the Comets definitely had the Penguins number in that period, while they held possession in the Pens zone for the majority of the period, their chances weren’t all that high danger. The Penguins managed 7 shots to Utica’s 10, but I’d definitely argue that they were more significant chances. Michael Leighton has been solid so far and is definitely keeping the Comets in this one… Lots of line juggling for Cull after the Gadjovich injury; really sucks for Gadjovich too, after having a breakout game against Laval he gets some bullshit injury off an asshole play by the Penguins goalie…hopefully its nothing serious and just precautionary
3rd Period
- Dahlen(#54) picks up a pass along the boards by Tristan Jarry , wraps around the net and sets up Woods(#21) in front but a stick deflects his shot high into Jarry’s glove
- GOAL – UTICA -2-0 Comets: off the face off draw again! This time Hamilton(#36) wins the draw back to Stefan LeBlanc(#3) who slaps one on Jarry from the blue-line, and as Hamilton(#36) keeps his defender busy, Vincent Arseneau(#18 )is left completely open to catch the rebound and put it past Jarry’s glove side
- alt angle of the goal, great shot from Leblanc and good eyes from Arseneau
- Hamilton(#36) having a great game tonight as he goes belly down to block a Penguin player, then spins with the stick to breakup the toe-drag
- Jasek(#9) with another steal in the Penguins zone and the ref falls over in disbelief
- fucking stanchion almost gets credited with an assist on a goal, wild bounce
- GOAL – WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON – 2-1 Comets: Teams finding success off the ozone draw, as Jean-Sebastian Dea wins the draw and Sam Miletic snaps it glove side past Leighton to put the Penguins on the board
- no audio after a tv timeout
- WSB Penguins camera setup has them breaking the 180 degree rule which is VERY upsetting to me as a former film editing student
- Jarret Burton picks up a tripping minor and the Comets onto their third powerplay…their powerplay has looked pretty awful tonight, barely getting any significant offense going
- as the powerplay closes with once again, barely any chances, Graham(#64) dumps the puck into the Penguins zone even though they still have time on the powerplay? Just hold it, let the team change and then retain possession when the powerplay ends pretty dumb call to hand over possession
- Hamilton(#36) picks up a Penguins pass in the neutral zone and is enters the zone for an odd-man rush, but Penguins Matt Abt skates into the back of a recently tagged-up Gaunce(#16) and dives hard to sell the interference penalty to negate the rush
- Brutal call from the refs, but smart play from Abt; Comets to the penalty kill
- Leighton comes up huge as he goes coast to coast for a glove save
- Gaunce(#16) with a bit of a revenge shove on Matt Abt after he’s released from the box
- Fucking hell, Hamilton takes a pointless tripping penalty in a battle for the puck along the boards in the neutral zone and the Comets are on their second consecutive penalty kill
- GOAL – WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON – 2-2 Tie: WBS pulls Tristan Jarry for the 6-on-4 powerplay and they capitalize to tie it late. Fucking hell Hamilton I was about to make you first star of the game off the two faceoff draws you won
- Time winds down and this one is going to overtime
Score at the end of the Third Period: 2-2 Tie
Man that period was rough…outshot 13 to 4….out chanced…out everything’d just painful amounts of bad/rough passing from the Comets and such a stupid fucking penalty from Hamilton…really hope they win it in overtime because Michael Leighton deserves it…35 saves on 37 HIGH danger shots… come on boys, get it together
Overtime
- Time for some 3 on 3…and the combo we’re starting with is, Pyatt, Darcy and McEneny…not going to even attempt to let Dahlen work with the open space and instead we get a bunch of defensive forwards…brutal
- 2nd shift: Woods, Chatfield, Gaunce
- a Penguins player gets tripped up over Leighton and Gaunce(#16) leads the rush into the Penguins zone, passes to Chatfield(#5) who goes to Woods(#2 1)who puts it off the post!
- 3rd shift: Boucher, Sautner, Kero
- Sautner(#6) breaks up a huge scoring chance for the Penguins Blandisi as he is completely alone at the Comets blue line
- 4th shift: Jasek, McEneny, Hamilton
- 5th shift: Darcy, Dahlen, and McEneny stuck out there
- GOAL – UTICA – 3-2 Comets: After a long shift in OT, McEneny(#2) goes cross-ice to Dahlen(#54) on the Penguins blue-line who waits for Cam Darcy(#11) to join, then on the 2-on-1 gets a beautiful saucer pass, where Darcy quickly dekes Jarry to go backhand and in…what a move to seal it.
- seriously look at that Sauce
Final Score : 3-2 Utica Comets
Scoresheet
| Period | Team | Goalscorer | Primary assist | helper | type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd | Utica | Brendan Woods | Wacey Hamilton | — | 5V5 |
| 3rd | Utica | Vincent Arseneau | Stefan LeBlanc | Wacey Hamilton | 5v5 |
| 3rd | WBS | Sam Miletic | Jean-Sebastien Dea | — | 5v5 |
| 3rd | WBS | Ryan Haggerty | Jarrett Burton | Sam Lafferty | PPG |
| OT | Utica | Cam Darcy | Jonathan Dahlen | Evan McEneny | 3v3 |
Takeaways
- Well now that I can wipe the sweat off my brow…tonight was a startling reminder of what this team is like without their top D pair, MacEwen and Gaudette…they got it done, but oh boy they got it done in probably the most difficult way possible…they made it harder on themselves as the game progressed haha.
- Wacey Hamilton had a banner night, penalty aside, he was making the Penguins night very difficult. That being said, this guy just takes penalties at the worst times imaginable nearly every game he plays. When part of why the coach loves you is your grit and penalty killing…maybe DON’T take dumb penalties when you’re holding a lead with 3 minutes to go in a game?
- Michael Leighton is proving to be quite the reliable starter at the AHL level…stopped 35 of 37 shots, and oh man if the AHL quantified High-danger shots versus volume shots, I think it would be at least 60/40 on high danger shots. The Penguins just threw everything but the kitchen sink at Leighton whenever they maintained possession in the Comets zone but Leighton withstood the shellacking…he didn’t even get a star at the end of the game which is fucking baffling to me…two Penguins players got them even though they lost
- A VERY quiet night for the majority of the team tonight, the only standouts who had noticeable impacts in the game were McEneny, Graham, Hamilton, Jasek, Dahlen, Sautner, Arseneau and Woods…otherwise it was a pretty dull night of hockey from the Farm.
- Also why is Dahlen the 5th shift out for 3 on 3? The guy prospered on big open ice in Europe, so why are we waiting nearly 3 minutes before putting him out there? Like are we seriously starting Tom Pyatt and Cam Darcy in overtime over guys who thrive on space and time like Lind or Dahlen? Are we for realllllll?
Comets Three Stars
- Michael Leighton
- Jonathan Dahlen
- Wacey Hamilton
HM: Jasek once again for seemingly creating the most scoring chances off his zone entries and battle along the boards.
What’s Next?
The Comets return home tomorrow against the Cleveland Monsters for the 4th and final meeting of the season. The Comets are currently up in the head-to-head 2-1-0-0, having outscored the Monsters 14-5 across those three games. The Monsters are currently sitting 6th in the North Division, 8 points below the Comets and are coming into Sundays game having lost 3 of their last 5. The Comets have gotten points in all but 1 game this February, and that’s with a completely depleted lineup and 4th/5th string goaltending, going to be interesting to see if the point streak can continue in this weekend double header!
Until tomorrow, 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!
