ICECAPS
St. John’s

2-1

COMETS
Utica

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings: 

[one_half]Hudon – McCarron – Holloway
Bozon – Dumont – Gregoire
McNally – MacMillan – Fournier
Pither – Miceli [/one_half]

[one_half_last]Tinordi – Ellis
Hanley – Didier
Barbeiro – Lernout
Dietz[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders:

Pasquale
Tokarski

Scratches: Dalton Thrower, Mac Bennett, Eric Neilson, Michael Bournival (concussion), Connor Crisp (undisclosed), Jacob De la Rose (lower-body), Nikita Scherbak (undisclosed), Markus Eisenschmid (undisclosed)
Injured reserve:  Ryan Johnston (back surgery)

Game Report

The Aud in Utica is a small, quaint historic barn. Packed to the rafters it was buzzing with energy all game long. And the Comets treated  3860 boisterous fans to a dominating performance. Shots were 31-15 for Utica.

When speaking to the Utica Observer-Dispatch, Comets coach Travis Green said, “I thought our team played a hell of a game. We were in their end 70 percent of the game.”

But Sylvain Lefebvre’s ‘bend-not-break’ defence held and Eddie Pasquale was outstanding, fully deserving of the game’s first star. Pasquale and Dustin Tokarski have been superb in two straight games as the IceCaps have been outshot a combined 69-33 against Albany and Utica. Despite the lopsided shot disadvantage in games this week, St. John’s has picked up three of a possible four points.

The IceCaps have now earned points in 10 straight games. On the current road trip, Lefebvre’s crew has picked up eight points in five games with the coach crediting strong team play.

St. John’s easily won the special teams battle. The Comets enjoyed five power-play opportunities but the IceCaps penalty-killers were perfect. Jarred Tinordi’s lane-clogging reach and Josiah Didier’s shot blocking were particularly effective. The overtime winner scored on the power-play.

It was Andrey Pedan who was in the box when Bud Holloway drifted a wrister past goaltender Joe Cannata. Pedan received two minutes for boarding when he enthusiastically took Tinordi’s head into the glass.  Trying to resurrect past grudges, Pedan hurt his team while Tinordi displayed discipline.

Following the game the IceCaps headed to Binghamton where they will close out their six-game road trip against the Senators on Saturday night.

▲     Eddie Pasquale, Jarred Tinordi, Josiah Didier, Darren Dietz

▼

1. Eddie Pasquale  STJ
2. Brian Holloway   STJ
3. Ashton Sautner  UTI

• “The way we’re playing, we’re playing tight hockey games and we’re finding ways to get points.”
• “Tonight the power-play came up big in overtime. And even the penalty-kill came up big at the end of the game.”
• “Eddie [Pasquale] was great in net. I thought defensively we bent but didn’t break. We did some good things defensively.”
• “[Utica Comets] played well, they played hard, they finished every check. On the forecheck, they were aggressive, they finished their checks on our defensemen. It takes a toll on everybody.”
• “[Jarred Tinordi] is logging a lot of minutes. Every game you can see that he’s gaining confidence. Defensively, he plays hard, he takes the body, he’s got a long reach, long stick and he’s getting more confidence with the puck.”
• “[Nikita] Scherbak is not going to be back until probably the end of January.”

Post-game interview with Sylvain Lefebvre

Post-game interview with Charles Hudon

Audio from interviews conducted by Amy Johnson for IceCaps Hockey Report | Rocket Sports Media.

Quotes and audio courtesy of Rocket Sports Media

Comets lose a game they had thoroughly dominated. Get a point, but that is tough.

— John Pitarresi (@PitarresiSports) December 5, 2015

Jarred Tinordi with the 'A' tonight in Utica. Puck drop in minutes. #IceCaps @UticaComets #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/1PiLcIe1zv

— AHL Report (@TheAHLReport) December 4, 2015

IceCaps making their AUD debut tonight pic.twitter.com/uVpmQNFHT3

— Don Laible (@CometsTales) December 4, 2015

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