The Syracuse Crunch came back to force overtime, but fell to the Utica Comets, 2-1, tonight at the Adirondack Bank Center.
The Comets opened scoring in the third period before Chase Priskie netted his first of the season to tie the game. The loss snaps a five-game winning streak and moves the Crunch to 15-8-2-0 on the season and 4-4-1-0 in the 14-game season series with the Comets.
Crunch goaltender Spencer Martin turned aside 28-of-39 shots. Jake Kielly stopped all six shots he faced in net for the Comets before being relieved by Joel Hofer in the first period. Hofer went on to stop 25-of-26. Syracuse was unable to convert on their one power play opportunity, but went a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
After two scoreless periods, the Comets were first on the board 1:33 into the third when Jonah Gadjovich tipped Jett Woo’s point shot.
The Crunch evened the score at the 17:14 to eventually force overtime. Hofer made the save on Taylor Raddysh’s shot from the slot, but Priskie was following behind the play to send home the rebound.
Gadjovich scored his second of the night to win the game for Utica 2:47 into the overtime period when he redirected Carson Focht’s centering feed.
The Crunch return home to host the Rochester Americans on Saturday.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].