SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Led by Joe Cannata’s 26-save performance, the Utica Comets beat the Syracuse Crunch 3-1 Friday night at the Onondaga County War Memorial at the OnCenter. With the win, the Comets snapped a seven game losing streak and take home a commanding lead in the quest for the Galaxy Cup, with a record of 4-1-0-0 against Syracuse.
Alex Friesen (0-2-2), and Brendan Gaunce (1-1-2) recorded multi-point nights, while Brandon Marino (1-0-1) scored his first career American Hockey League goal.
Just two minutes into the game the Comets scored the first goal of the game for the first time in 10 contests. Brendan Gaunce gloved down an Alex Friesen pass below the goal line, and slid the puck to Brandon Marino who was all alone in the slot. Marino quickly gathered the pass and flipped a shot over the glove of Gudlevskis for the 1-0 lead.
The Comets spent the next eight minutes all over the Crunch and outshot their opponent 14-2. It would not be until the Comets 15th shot that they would solve the Crunch’s goaltender again.
With sustained pressure, Carter Bancks swooped behind the net before he set up Michael Zalewski with a pass that the New Hartford, NY native hammered into the net with a one-time slapshot. Hunter Shinkaruk picked up the secondary assist.
The score remained 2-0 until three minutes into the third period.
A turnover in front of Joe Cannata sprung Brendan Gaunce on a length-of-the-ice breakaway that would end with a wrist shot zipping through the legs of Gudlevskis for the 3-0 lead.
With the goaltender pulled, Mike Blunden banked a meaningless goal in off the post to break up the shutout bid with 1:06 left.
With the win the Comets leapfrog the Crunch in the standings with 40 points and a record of 17-15-3-3 on the season.
The Comets return to The AUD for some home cooking against the Albany Devils on Saturday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm.
