Utica defeats Adirondack for second straight game

(uticacomets.com) – Riding Wacey Hamilton’s three point night, the Utica Comets wrapped up their preseason slate of games with a 4-1 win over the Adirondack Flames Saturday night, at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

 
Dustin JeffreyDarren ArchibaldCarter Bancks, and Hamilton netted goals for the Comets, while goaltender Joe Cannata notched the win with 24 saves
 
After a scoreless first period the Comets got to work quickly in the second period. Hunter Shinkaruk, in his first preseason game as a Comet, started the scoring play by absorbing a body check along the sideboards in order to feed the puck to Brandon DeFazio behind the net. DeFazio spun and passed to Jeffrey in the slot, who tapped it in for the game’s first goal.
 
Just 26 seconds later Archibald doubled the Comets lead. Bancks came out of a scrum in the corner with the loose puck, chipped it to Hamilton, who raced behind the net. From there Hamilton found Archibald at the face off dot to the right of the Flames netminder. Archibald sniped home a one-timer over the goaltender’s short-side shoulder.
 
11:03 into the final period Corban Knight cut the Comets lead to one. With the Flames net empty due to a delayed penalty on the Comets, Knight ripped a shot past Cannata from the top of the face-off circle. Garnet Hathaway and Bill Arnold picked up assists on the goal.
 
The Comets tacked on their first insurance goal with just  2:07 left to play. DeFazio capitalized on a bad Flames turnover in their own zone and broke in on a 2 on 1 with Bancks. DeFazio slid the puck over to Bancks who buried from point blank range.
 
Hamilton capped off his three point night with an empty net goal from 150 feet away.