Wilkes Barre, PA – The Comets skated into the Mohegan Arena for the first time this season and were shut out by a score of 4-0 by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
The Penguins came out with a good pace and owned the first four shots of the game, but the Comets settled in and drew a penalty at the 10:08 mark of the first period when Tristan Broz was called for tripping. Despite some great chances on the power play, Penguins’ netminder Maxim Pavlenko kept the Comets off the board. The Penguins got an opportunity on the power play a few minutes later after Mike Hardman was called for tripping. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton forward Aaron Huglen made a nice move in the slot and set up Atley Calvert for a backdoor tap in to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead at the 15:08 mark.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton continued its strong play in the second period when Mathieu De St. Phalle added an insurance goal after swatting home a rebound at the 5:51 mark of the period to make it 2-0 on his second goal of the season. The Comets would get another power play shortly thereafter and despite some great zone time, Wilkes-Barre did a terrific job getting in shooting lanes and prevented the Comets from getting many of their shots through to Pavlenko.
The Penguins would strike again later in the period. After a nice transition through the neutral zone, Valtteri Puustinen found Sam Poulin in the left circle who beat Jakub Malek low glove side to make it 3-0 at the 13:06 mark of the second on Poulin’s fifth of the year.
The Comets were unfortunately unable to manufacture a goal in the third period, and the Penguins added an empty-net goal from Tristan Broz at the 17:23 mark to make it 4-0 and that was the final score. The Penguins outshot the Comets 27-20. Maxim Pavlenko earned the shutout in his first career AHL start. Jakub Malek made 23 saves in net for the Comets.
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