Good Sunday to you all! The Comets are back in action to complete the triple header, this time they’re continuing the road trip along the I-84 to Providence Rhode Island to face off against the Boston Bruins farm team, the Providence Bruins!

Providence sits precariously in 4th place in the AHL’s Atlantic division after splitting the first two games of their weekend triple-header with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Given that the Bruins are only 3 points up on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins…they’re in a bit of desperation mode to try and get as much separation as possible heading into next weekend’s triple header. So despite the joy and happiness of the Comets busting up another dreadful losing streak; todays match will NOT be easy by any stretch as they will be facing a team with a lot of fire and motivation to win.

 

Quite a lot of good came out of last nights win; Zack MacEwen scored a goal (an empty netter) for the first time since March 6th ending a massive scoring drought for him. Jonah Gadjovich also scored in his second game back from a 7 game stint on IR.

 

Overall I thought the Comets had a VERY good game last night (albeit it was against the Atlantic divisions’ last place team) but those are the kinds of games that help to inspire and rally a struggling team to elevate their compete level! With that, lets get into today’s game!

 

Starting Lineup

 

LW	C	RW
Pyatt	Darcy	Boucher
Bancks	Woods	MacEwen
Gadjovich	Gaunce	Jasek
Arseneau	Hamilton	Gardiner

LD	RD
Sifers	LeBlanc
Petgrave	Graham
Thow	Blujus

G
Ivan Kulbakov

 

LOL I genuinely do not see what Cull see’s in Petgrave that Graham and Saucerman are the ones exchanging turns in and out of the lineup. He’s a big guy who can transition the puck from his end to the other but the lapses while holding the blue line in the offensive zone are too frequent to warrant being a constant start in the lineup.

Ivan Kulbakov steps in to round out the weekend, the Kalamazoo Wings playoff run doesn’t start until this weekend so it’s probably great timing he was able to join them on this triple header weekend on such short notice

 

RE: INJURY REPORT

 

Injury Report	—	—	—	—	—
Bachman	Juolevi	McEneny	Chatfield	Lind	Kero
Out for the Season	Out for the season	Out for the season	upper body injury	lower body injury	Concussion

 

Healthy Scratches	—	—	—	—	—
Anselmini	Thomas	Stevenson	Eliot (will not play this season due to expansion draft reasons)	Vanderlaan	Saucerman

 

Cant say i disagree with Vanderlaan scratch…he really didn’t seem to offer much while playing, wasn’t really a dynamic skater (which would be necessary for a guy his size) didn’t have that impressive of a passing game either and generally was pretty forgettable for the most part, which is about the last thing you want to be on a team that is desperate for standout players in the final stretch of this wash of a 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 with the first sustained pressure early, but shots are fluttering
• Lukas Jasek on the youth line’s first go, tries a centering pass then draws a tripping penalty to put the Comets on an early powerplay
• 1st Unit starts: Darcy, Boucher, Pyatt, MacEwen, Thow: 1st Unit loses two faceoff draws and struggle to setup
• 2nd Unit out: Petgrave, Graham, Jasek, Gaunce, Gadjovich: 1st drive gets poked out of the zone forcing a reset, powerplay ends shortly after
• Jonah Gadjovich(#22) displaying some great skates to beat out two Providence players to the Bruins end boards, ties up two players and allows his teammates to set up in the zone
• GOAL – UTICA – 1-0 Comets: This is entirely the product of Jonah Gadjovich’s previous streamable…first he tries to set up Wacey Hamilton(#36), who’s shot goes off the net, then after his long shift races to the bench where Vincent Arseneau (#18) replaces him, and as he enters the zone its perfect timing for a one-timer as he rips one past Zane McIntyre… it wont show on the scoreboard, but this goal is 100% on Gadjovich gaining possession for the Comets off of that defensive start
• Arseneau(#18) on his next shift lays a massive hit on the boards (bottom of streamable)
• Been a bizarre 5-6 minutes as theres been a lot of end to end skating with plays being set up but nearly every pass doesn’t reach the intended target so we carry on
• After a huge chance for Providence where a shot goes off the bar, Lukas Jasek(#9) leads the break out, then goes behind the net for a quick set up to Gadjovich (#22) in the slot for a one-timer but McIntyre makes the save
• Zack MacEwen(#15) attempts to power through 3 Bruin players, then after he’s dispossessed he gets dinged for tripping
• 1st PK group: Sifers, Hamilton, LeBlanc, Gaunce
• Bruins with 3 or 4 shots but every time the Comets are able to deflect or block it, but are completely unable to clear the zone.
• MacEwen leaves the box seconds after the Comets FINALLY clear the zone…that first group on the ice for the entire 2 minute penalty…holy moly MacEwen owes them some brews after this one
• lol few minutes later Jesse Graham gets dinged for cross-checking and the Comets are back to the penalty kill
• First unit: LeBlanc, Gaunce, Sifers, Hamilton: fortuntately only get stuck out for 50 seconds before they clear this time haha
• 2nd Unit: Woods, Bancks, Sifers (stayed on), Blujus: Bruins get one shot that gets blockered aside by Kulbakov, otherwise Comets kill the penalty

 

Score at the end of the first period: 1-0 Comets

 

Once again a pretty decent start for the Comets! Powerplay was a bit shit, but even strength they were doing a better job at setting up in the zone than Providence was; Comets outshot Providence 10 to 8 in the first, and that’s after 2 pretty dominant powerplays from Providence…so Comets looking strong at even strength here today.

 

2nd Period

 

• MacEwen(#15) casually goes end-to-end through 3 Providence players, attempts a centering feed through the feet of the D-man to Carter Bancks(#34), but it goes off his skate
• bit of a slow period through the opening 7 minutes, not a whole lot of shots or chances happening
• LOL refs blow down the play wayyyyyyyyy too early after a shot on Kulbakov gets gloved down but is loose on his pad, a couple Bruins go to bat the puck in the net but the play is blown dead…huge bailout there by the refs haha
• Can tell MacEwen might be frustrated at his inability to score lately… just lead a rush down the ice and had his centering feed again broken up…followed by being set up by Woods at the front of the net only to have his shot go wide
• yo wtf, Gadjovich(#22) races down the right wing for a backhand on McIntyre, then picks up a loose puck for a shot from a different angle…followed by Jasek(#9) having a wraparound attempt denied by a sprawling McIntyre
• youth line absolutely hemming the Bruins in their own end, holy moly, the cycling from Thow, Jasek, Gadj and Gaunce led to several strong chances
• still cant believe that Gadjoivich rush down the wing… if this guy continues to work on his skating, the rest will come, really impressed with the strides he’s taken in the back-half of the season, through injuries and all
• Comets after their youth and 4th lines hem the Bruins in their end face a bit of pressure from the Bruins, culminating in a huge save from Kulbakov on a one-timer from in close
• Comets caught out in their end for over 2 minutes, just struggling to clear the zone, the zone gets cleared BARELY by the Comets and the entire squad just says fuck it and makes a b-line for the bench. Except Carter Bancks who gets stuck out there
• Brendan Gaunce gets a penalty for high-sticking so the Comets are off to the penalty kill – apparently a 4 minute double minor as blood was drawn.
• Kulbakov with another HUGE pad save on the penalty kill
• GOAL – PROVIDENCE – 1-1 Tie: Providence plays tic-tac-toe on their powerplay and they capitalize won a shot by Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson who sneaks one just past Kulbakovs glove-side…looks like Kulby had a piece of it but not enough of it for the save.
• 2 minutes still remaining in the double minor so Comets remain shorthanded
• Providence coming alive on this powerplay; hammering the Comets with shots here but Kulbakov remains strong in goal

 

The Score at the end of the 2nd period: 1-1 Tie

 

Well that wasn’t the WORST period of Comets hockey I’ve ever seen…but I’m not liking the momentum the Bruins were generating towards the end of that period. Shots favored the B’s 11 to 9 in the second; shots after the game are now tie at 19 apiece. Comets need to work on the discipline a bit and try to avoid the penalty kill, because even at even strength they’ve had a few instances of getting absolutely hemmed into their own end for several minutes at a time, which usually doesn’t bode well for energy levels on the last game of a triple header weekend in a tie game situation.

 

3rd Period

 

• Seconds into the 3rd period and Kulbakov comes up with another HUGE save on a Bruins one-timer
• Zebras with a legitimately god-awful icing call…MacEwen(# 15)completely has his man beat, even Woods(#21) is going to beat the Bruins player into the corner to catch the puck
• Reid Boucher throws a hip check on a Bruin and gets dinged for tripping, putting the Comets on their 4th consecutive powerplay of the game
• Another huge penalty kill for the Comets where they are hemmed into their zone nearly the entire PK
• GOAL – PROVIDENCE – 2-1 Bruins: the pressure pays off for the Bruins…after the Comets ice the puck, the Bruins win the draw and Stuart Percy hands off to Paul Carey who’s shot from the blue line gets past a screened Kulbakov to give the Bruins the lead
• Nearly 8 minutes into the 3rd and the Comets have yet to register a shot on goal
• Stefan LeBlanc gets hit with a high stick and the Comets are off to the powerplay with 10:27 remaining in the period
• 1st Unit starts: MacEwen, Boucher, Thow, Pyatt, Darcy – Comets with a chance off the draw but Boucher’s slapper hits Pyatt in front and they have to regroup as its hit out of the zone
• 2nd Unit starts after a Darcy shot into the glove of McIntyre: Petgrave, Graham, Jasek, Boucher (stayed on), and Gadjovich – 2ND Unit gets hemmed along the boards, and a tired Boucher is unable to help out much, powerplay ends without much going for it, team looking gassed

 

NOW at this point I actually left to go do a home inspection so everything from here on out was reviewed on Monday haha

 

• [Petgrave(#38) with a turnover on the Comets powerplay blue line that almost turns into a breakaway chance for Providence]( https://streamable.com/2ug4e
• B’s player dangerously boards Wacey Hamilton(#36) head first into the boards but no call is made
• 2:17 left and the Comets pull the goalie on an offensive zone draw
• GOAL – PROVIDENCE – 3-1 Bruins: Trying to set up around the Bruins net, MacEwen(#15) goes for a centering pass to Darcy(#11) but it goes off the bodies of Jordan Szwarz and Paul Carey for Anton Blidh to go rinkwide to score the empty netter and seal it for Providence
• final minute and the youth squad is out to wrap this one up: Gaunce, Gadjovich, Jasek with Sifers and LeBlanc holding down the back end

 

Final Score: 3-1 Providence Bruins

 

Scoresheet

 

Period	Team	Goalscorer	Primary assist	helper	type
1st	Utica	Vincent Arseneau	Wacey Hamilton	Stefan LeBlanc	5V5
2nd	Providence	Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson	Cooper Zech	Peter Cehlarik	PPG
3rd	Providence	Paul Carey	Stuart Percy	Jordan Szwarz	5V5
3rd	Providence	Anton Blidh	Paul Carey	Jordan Szwarz	EN

 

Takeaways

 

• Well despite a strong start, the suffocating pressure of the Providence Bruins proved too much for an exhausted Comets team. Shots were even at 6 a piece in the final frame, but the numerous times where the Comets were stuck in their end unable to change appeared to do them in. I never played hockey, but I imagine being on the penalty kill 4 times in a game as well as being caught in your own end at even strength for more than 2-3 minutes at a time on NUMEROUS occasions, isn’t great for the ol’ lactic acid buildup. Too bad because they started pretty strong.
• Fairly disappointing to see Zack MacEwen so frustrated out there, you can see the effort is there for him, and he’s trying his hardest to create offense, but the pucks are just not ending up where they need to be. Haven’t seen a slap shot from this guy since January; a bulk of this guy’s goals and points earlier this season came off quick one timers off the draw in the circle but that seems to have evaporated as of late. Not sure if its just late season fatigue, the lack of a true dynamic offensive center to play with or what…but it sucks seeing the guy teeming with frustration out there.
• Kulbakov looked good in his return with the Comets; really bailed them out on numerous occasions during those periods of time where all 5 players were completely gassed and incapable of breaking up the pressure.

 

Comets Three Stars

• Jonah Gadjovich
• Ivan Kulbakov
• Vincent Arseneau

HM: Zack MacEwen

 

What’s Next?

 

The Comets return this Friday for another triple header; first up is a home game against the Wilkes Barre Scranton Penguins. The Penguins have 3 games left in their schedule and sit 5 points back of Providence for the last Calder Playoff spot of the Atlantic division. Going to be some absolutely desperate hockey from them (as Providence displayed Sunday) so hopefully the Comets are well rested and prepared for their 2nd to last home game of the season against a very tough competitor.

 

As far as I know I don’t have any homebuying stuff to keep me occupied this weekend so IN THEORY, I’ll have Farmies ready to go as quick as possible!