11/12/2016 – CanucksBanter

cxhimusveaee2tf — Utica Comets goalie Thatcher Demko poses with game puck, a souvenir of his first professional hockey victory against the Hartford Wolf Pack, November 12, 2016. A 3-2 OT win.

By Andrew Chernoff

November 12, 2016

The Utica Comets (3-8-1-0) won their third game of the season tonight in spectacular fashion against the Hartford Wolf Pack, 3-2 in overtime.

The victory ended the Comets four game losing streak, handing the Wolf Pack their 7th straight set back.

Utica goaltender Thatcher Demko won his first professional game, stopping 29 shots, and was named the 1st star of the game.

Darren Archibald scored twice, including the tying goal to send the game into extra time, and potted the overtime winner.

Curtis Valk had the other Comets goal, and picked up an assist as well for a two point game. Chad Billins John Negrin and David Shields picked up assists.

Jake Virtanen had 6 shots and was a +1 tonight, his second game of his assignment in Utica. The Canucks plan on having him return to Vancouver right away.

shannon

birnell1 birnell2

team_ahl_utica_commets

By Andrew Chernoff

November 12, 2016

The Utica Comets take on the Hartford Wolf Pack tonight, in their second game of their 6 game homestand.

COMETS IN NEED OF WINS

The two-win Comets enter tonight’s contest, looking to end a 4 game losing streak, and get the first win of their 6 game homestand.

Comets come into the game in seventh place in the North Division with 5 points in 11 games, while Hartford is in last place in the Atlantic division, with 7 points in 11 games.

Last Game: The Utica Comets (2-8-1-0) began their 6 game homestand with a 4-1 loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms last night.

Carter Bancks had the Comets lone goal, while Alex Grenier had the only assist on the tally, to extend his point streak to 4 games.

Utica goalie, Richard Bachman, stopped 24 shots in the loss, his 3rd consecutive start for the Comets.

VIRTANEN BACK IN THE HOUSE

Jake Virtanen made his first appearance last night for the Comets this season, after being assigned to Utica on Wednesday by the Vancouver Canucks.

Virtanen is expected to play his second consecutive game tonight for the Comets.

WOLF PACK HUNGRY FOR WIN

The Wolf Pack entered weekend action last night against the Rochester Americans. Hartford (3-7-1-0) hoped to win, and come into their match up against the Comets on a win streak, after dropping a 6-2 contest last Saturday night against the Providence Bruins, their 5th loss in a row, a losing streak that began on Oct. 28.

Instead, the Wolf Pack lost 5-2 to the Rochester Americans last night, and are now 1-6-0 in their last 7 games.

SUBBAN STILL AMAZING

Jordan Subban’s five-game point streak came to an end last night, which prior to that, had him knocking on the AHL leaderboard for goals (4), power-play goals (3) and points per game (1.22) by a defenseman.

Subban’s highlights include four multi-points games in the first 9 games of the season.

COMET’S POWER PLAY STILL BURNING

Unlike the the NHL Vancouver Canucks, according to the Comets website, the Utica power play, has been red hot to start the season and is ranked eighth in the league, scoring a power-play goal in four of their last five games, entering their game tonight.