ROCKET PUT IN SOLID EFFORT BUT SLIP 3-2 AGAINST COMETS

UTICA (February 12, 2020) – The Rocket were searching for their first win since hitting the road six days ago. Despite a solid effort and outshooting the Utica Comets 30-19, the visitors fell short and lost 3-2 at the Adirondack Bank Center on Wednesday night. 

Laurent Dauphin notched two assists, his first pair with the Rocket. Utica’s Reid Boucher, the AHL’s third-best scorer (55 points) and the game’s first star, registered a two-point night, including the game-winning goal. With a tally, Jonah Gadjovich has notched five points (3 G, 2 A) in as many games against the Rocket this season. 

The Rocket established and maintained a high-tempo pace throughout the contest, grabbing 1-0 and 2-1 leads in the first two periods with goals from Otto Leskinen and Yannick Veilleux. However, the Comets’ fourth-best powerplay in the league struck twice. Gadjovich and Sven Baertschi capitalized on the man advantage to tie the game at two-a-piece after 40 minutes. 

Boucher gave the Comets their first lead 36 seconds into the third period. His 27th goal of the season proved to be the game winner as netminder Michael DiPietro stood tall despite the Rocket’s repeated attempts to tie it up. DiPietro earned third-star honours as he went on to make 28 saves, including 13 in the final frame. 

“I guess we can look at the positives of it but at the end of the day, a loss is a loss. We just got to look forward to salvaging the weekend with the other two games. We have the skill, we have the players, it’s just the execution. It comes down to making the plays that each player here can make and make them consistently,” said Riley Barber after the game. 

Marqueurs/Scorers 

LAV: Leskinen (Brook, Dauphin) | Veilleux (Alain, Dauphin) 

UTI: Gadjovich (Jasek, Camper) | Baertschi (Lind, Boucher) | Boucher 

Unités spéciales/Special teams 

LAV | AN/PP: 1/5 | IN/PK: 2/4 

UTI | AN/PP: 2/4 | IN/PK: 4/5 

Gardiens/Goaltenders 

LAV: Primeau (16/19) | UTI: DiPietro (28/30) 

Trois étoiles/Three stars 

1. Boucher – UTI 2. Baertschi – UTI 3. DiPietro – UTI