Jim O’Brien scored twice during a four-goal second period as the Albany Devils grabbed a commanding 2-0 series lead with a 5-1 victory over the Utica Comets at the Times Union Center on Saturday evening.
The Comets will look to avoid the sweep when they host Game 3 on Tuesday.
After Utica’s Cole Cassels and Albany’s Ben Thomson traded goals in the first period, the Devils scored three times in a span of 3:18 to break open Game 2 and chase starting goaltender Richard Bachman from the Comets crease.
O’Brien netted a power-play goal at 4:36 to give Albany the lead, Reid Boucher scored shorthanded at 7:15 and Pavel Zacha added another power-play marker at 7:54 as the Devils built a 4-1 cushion.
O’Brien then potted his second goal of the game with 3:06 left in the middle frame.
O’Brien (2g, 1a), Boucher (1g, 2a) and Damon Severson (3a) all had three points in the game for Albany, and Scott Wedgewood (2-0) stopped 22 of 23 shots.
Bachman (0-2) allowed four goals on 16 shots before yielding to Joe Cannata, who finished with 11 saves in relief.
North Division Semifinals – Series “D” (best-of-5)
N2-Albany Devils vs. N3-Utica Comets
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 22 – ALBANY 3, Utica 2
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 23 – ALBANY 5, Utica 1
Game 3 – Tue., Apr. 26 – Albany at Utica, 7:00
*Game 4 – Thu., Apr. 28 – Albany at Utica, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., Apr. 30 – Utica at Albany, 5:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
