Comets Erase 3-0 Deficit But Ultimately Lose 4-3 in OT

October 31, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets The Utica Comets erased a 3-0 deficit before losing in overtime to the Binghamton Senators at the Utica Memorial Auditorium on Friday night.

Cal O'Reilly (0-3-3), and Henrik Tommernes (1-1-2) paced the way for the Comets with multi-point nights. While Jacob Markstrom 24 of the Senators 27 shots in the loss.

It didn't take long into the first period for the Senators to break Jacob Markstrom's bid for the all-time American Hockey League shutout record. Five minutes and 55 seconds after the puck was dropped Jean-Gabriel Pageau of the Senators was fed a pass from Buddy Robinson directly above the center hash marks. After the feed, Pageau proceeded to take a wrist shot towards Markstrom's glove side. Markstrom got a piece of it but failed to hold on as Alex Guptill tracked the puck down inside the blue paint and buried it for his first career AHL goal.

At 17:23 of the first period Peter Andersson took a two-minute hooking penalty and the Senators found the back of the net again on the tail end of the powerplay with just 51 seconds left in the first period. Alex Grant tipped the puck in past Markstrom for the second goal after Carter Camper took a slapshot from the right dot. Aaron Johnson was credited with the secondary assist.

The Comets still struggled with discipline as they headed into the second period. Darren Archibald took a roughing penalty at 4:07, which left the Comets shorthanded for the fourth time in the game. As the Senators set up in the Comets zone for 5-on-4 opportunity, Chris Wideman received a pass from Matt Puempel at the right dot for a slapshot that was buried to the short side of Markstrom to make it 3-0. Pageau received the secondary assist on the second power-play goal for his second point of the game.

The Comets finally snuck a puck past goaltender Scott Greenham when Travis Ehrhardt received a pass from O'Reilly and fired a slapshot from the left point just in front of the blue line. Greenham was struggling to see through the screen and the puck found its way past his glove side to make it 3-1. This was Ehrhardt's first goal on the season.

The Comets continued to conjur up some more slapshot magic 4:07 into the third period when O'Reilly passed the puck to his defensemen at the blue line. Henrik Tommernes was the first to receive the pass but quickly fed the puck to Corrado on his left. With one quick swing of the stick, Corrado delivered the puck past Greenham to make it 3-2 for what would be Corrado's first of the year.

Following the mantra "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," the Comets found their third goal and the equalizer from another blue line slapshot. This time Tommernes received a pass at the center point from, none other than, Cal O'Reilly. Tommernes cranked one hard past Greenham for it his first goal of the season and the Comets sixth power-play goal of the season. O'Reilly earned his third assist for the game.

The Senators took advantage of the power play for the third and last time 4:21 into the overtime period. Tommernes took a hooking penalty at 3:14, which forced the Comets into a 4-on-3 situation. With more ice to play with, Aaron Johnson fed a pass to Wideman who slapped it home past Markstrom for the game-winning overtime goal.

The Comets finished the game with 44 shots on net. The penalty kill unit finally looked human, killing only 3-of-6 Senators power plays.