COMETS HARVEST: Jonah Goaldjovich Does the Thing! Twice!

2020-21 Regular Season, COMETS HARVEST 10 Minutes

The Comets look to rebound from a devastating 7-1 loss to the Syracuse Crunch when they face off against the *checks notes* Syracuse Crunch.

Yeah, the schedule gets pretty bland and repetitive from here on out.

Six of the next eleven games come against either Syracuse or Rochester, so variety will be out the window.

Back to the Comets’ last game against Syracuse; The Comets actually out-shot Syracuse quite considerably at 5v5. Unfortunately, they couldn’t capitalize and wound up on the wrong end of the scoresheet.

Thems the breaks.

Weird to link my tweets, but I’m exhausted and don’t feel like re-typing something I already wrote out, haha.

On top of the above, the Comets face a litany of call-up and injury issues that might make tonight’s game just as ugly as Sunday’s.

The Blues recalled one of the Comets’ minute-munching all-situations defenders in Mitch Reinke.

Reinke hasn’t been spectacular at 5v5 offence by any stretch. Still, he offers a ton of utility for the team as a powerplay point-man, penalty-killer, and stable partner to inexperienced rookie d-men.

Even with the addition of Guillaume Brisebois back into the Comets lineup, the Comets lack significant veteran leadership on their back-end.

This one could be pretty ugly.

DO SOMETHING

I don’t think I can stress enough how badly the Comets need 5v5 goalscoring elsewhere in their lineup.

Jonah Gadjovich leads the pack with eight goals at 5v5.

The runners-up? John Stevens (his current center) and Vincent Arseneau who are both tied at three 5v5 goals apiece.

Yea. It’s pretty fucking bleak, to say the least.

Given how watered down the talent pool is in the AHL this season, you’d hope to see a lot more 5v5 offence spread throughout the lineup. However, there just hasn’t been any. And they need it. Badly.

Though they’re facing off against a streaking Syracuse Crunch team, now would be a great time to see some others notch some 5v5 goals.

STARTING ROSTER

  • Returning to the lineup is Sam Anas – sliding out is Sven Bärtschi, who is out due to injury.
  • Making his debut tonight is St. Louis Blues’ 2019 5th Round draft pick, Keean Washkurak.
    • Washkurak spent most of this season playing in the 2nd tier Slovakian hockey league, where he managed to pick up 110 penalty minutes in 21 games.
      • Not even sure how that’s possible, haha.
  • It looks like most of the OHL players are on the scratch list, except for Washkurak, who makes his pro-debut tonight.
  • The team should hopefully have Di Pietro and Joshua for Friday’s game.

Don’t feel like reading? Click here for spoilers!!

GAME 19:

1st period:

PK1 –  Jasek, Kaspick, Tucker, Wesley

  • Kielly gloves down a shot to allow his PK group to change

PK2 – Lockwood, John Stevens, Teves, Brisebois

2nd period:

PP1 – Gadjovich, Jasek, N. Stevens, Brisebois, Anas

  • Syracuse wins the faceoff, and they’re content to cycle the puck around the rink to close out the second period.
  • Despite a bevy of offensive-zone pressure, the Comets finish the second frame down in shots thirteen to seven, 24 to 17 overall.

3rd period:

  • Comets start the final frame with a minute-thirty on the powerplay.
  • GOAL – UTICA – 1-0 COMETS: One second after the Comets powerplay expires, Jett Woo (#22) uncorks a bomb from the point that gets tipped at the last second by Jonah Gadjovich (#21). Comets try the goal-line tip twice in a row before they resort to the basics. Gadjovich picks up his thirteenth goal of the year while Woo picks up his first assist of the season.

 

PP1 – Anas, Jasek, Gadjovich, N. Stevens, Brisebois

PP2 – Focht, Woo, McGing, McKenzie, John Stevens

  • Oh boy. Boris Katchouk races around Jett Woo (#22) for another dangerous scoring chance. Hofer makes another huge save on Katchouk’s backhander.
  • GOAL – SYRACUSE – 1-1 TIE: Tough break for Joel Hofer, who was making elite saves against Syracuse on the Comets powerplay. A risky pinch into the offensive zone by Tyler Tucker (#2) allows Taylor Raddysh to move the puck up-ice and into the Comets zone. Joel Hofer makes the initial stop on Raddysh’s shot, but Chase Priskie picks up the uncontrolled rebound and ties this game with less than three minutes remaining in the final frame.
    • Comets handed the momentum to the Crunch during that powerplay
  • Comets are peppering Martin with shot attempts in the final few minutes as they try to regain some momentum for themselves.
  • Comets ice the puck with less than two seconds in the period, but this one heads to overtime.
  • Comets close the gap but still end up out-shot 30 to 27.

Overtime:

 

RESULT:

Comets defeat Syracuse 2-1 in Overtime

SCORESHEET:

GAME THOUGHTS:

  • Comets had a feeling I would criticize their 5v5 offence and scored the most “Canuck-ian” 5v5 goal ever. One second after the powerplay concluded, haha. Jonah Gadjovich adds two more goals to his tally, and the question becomes, is anyone else on this team capable of scoring goals?
  • I kind of adore that Gadjovich’s future brother-in-law is the starting goaltender for the Crunch. It must be a very awkward family chat, post-game, when Gadj scores two, including the game-winner!
  • Carson Focht and Will Lockwood both had incredible games, even if the latter didn’t wind up on the scoresheet. Focht was electric all night. I am looking forward to tracking this game just to see how many shot attempts he set up from the corner.
  • Joel Hofer came up huge for this club tonight, came in cold midway through the first and effectively stopped Syracuse from running away with the game late in the third.
  • Not a Canucks prospect, but I thought Keaan Washkurak looked pretty decent in his very limited ice-time! Decent wheels, good tenacity, and had a couple of good setups early in the first period.
  • The first two periods were a slog to watch, was getting heavy Canucks/Senators vibes. Shoutout to Jett Woo for his point shot to kick the game up a notch.
  • Brisebois looked pretty decent on a pair with Jett Woo. The latter of whom had a tough night dealing with the speed of the Crunch’s attackers. There were a couple of moments where Woo’s indecisiveness around the neutral zone led to him getting beat clean on the outside. Woo has been one of the Comets’ better skating defenders this season, so it was a bit surprising to see him beat cleanly as often as he was tonight. I’m sure the coaches will look over the tape and just tell him to move his feet earlier and not stop moving his feet when facing the rush—not concerned.

  • I’m pretty baffled over how Ryan Lohin ends up as the third-star on tonight’s scoresheet.

  • Big shoutout to the man, Chris Faber, for actually asking Gadjovich this question in the Comets post-game media availability. King shit.

  • The answer in question, haha.
  • Also, what an unfortunate way to end Kielly’s sophomore season in the AHL. He didn’t put up great numbers, but it sucks that such an innocuous hit from his teammate would end his season this way.

COMETS HARVEST THREE STARS

  1. Jonah Gadjovich
  2. Carson Focht
  3. Joel Hofer

Next Up on the Docket

Comets are back at it this Friday against the Rochester Americans at 7 PM EST/4 PM PST!

Plugs

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Published by Cody Severtson

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