It was another solid start for the Comets, opening the scoring for the third straight game when Xavier Parent pounced on a loose puck, walked into the right circle and fired one past Belleville goalie Mads Sogaard for his eighth of the year, giving the Comets a 1-0 lead at 4:19. The Senators would respond later in the period when Keann Washkurak executed a give-and-go with Carter Yakemchuk and fired a home past Nico Daws from the right circle at 11:36 on his fifth of the year. The Comets pushed back and got a goal late in the first period from Nathan Legare, who fired a laser past Sogaard from the left circle to give the Comets a 2-1 lead at the 5:20 mark of his fourth of the year. Shane Lachance picked up the lone assist.
The Comets took a 2-1 lead in the second period, but it was Belleville who came out swinging. The Senators’ Wyatt Bongiovanni skated on a loose puck in the left corner and found Tyler Boucher in the low slot who snapped past Daws to tie the game at two at 2:33, his fifth goal of the year. The Senators continued to press and after a Lassi Thomson point shot was stopped by Nico Daws, Belleville forward Xavier Bourgault scored the rebound for his 13th of the year at 4:07 to give the Senators a 3-2 lead. Just 22 seconds later, the Senators found themselves in a 2-on-1 rush when Stephen Halliday slipped a pass to Arthur Kaliyev in the left circle, who slid one past Daws for his 26th goal of the year, the most in the league, to make it 4-2 at 4:29.
The Comets pushed back and had some solid opportunities the rest of the period, outscoring Belleville 13-6 in the second frame. Their best chance came on the power play when Thomas Bordeleau pulled in a rebound, skated to the top of the right circle and fired a shot at the net, but was robbed by Mads Sogaard who was on the ice and kicked his left pad into the air to keep it out and preserve the lead.
The Comets trailed 4-2 entering the third period but got an early goal when Nathan Legare grabbed a rebound on an Ethan Edwards shot to make it a 4-3 game at 2:04 of the third for his second of the game and fifth of the year. The Comets played well defensively, holding the Senators to just four shots in the third. Later in the period, Mads Sogaard put a puck in behind his own net, but the Comets stole it and Sogaard scrambled back to stop the initial wraparound bid, but Brian Halonen knocked the puck in on the second attempt to tie the game at four with just 1:56 left. It was Halonen’s eleventh of the year, extending his goal streak to three straight games.
The teams went to overtime for the second time in the season series. The Senators ran the game in the extra session, testing Nico Daws with seven shots, who made some great saves.
The match ended in a shootout after a scoreless extra period. Wyatt Bongiovanni scored in the second to give the Senators a lead, but Xavier Parent tied the score in the third with a beautiful backhand shot that beat Sogaard over the glove. The AHL’s leading scorer, Arthur Kaliyev, would ultimately win it for the Senators in the third round, shooting a wrister past Daws to give Belleville the 5-4 win, but a well-deserved point for Utica.
The Comets were outrebounded 30-23 by the Senators, while going 0-for-3 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.
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