Comets dropped by St John’s in OT, 2-1

UTICA, N.Y. – Despite outshooting the St. John’s IceCaps 31-15, the Utica Comets dropped a hard fought overtime game to the IceCaps by the score of 2-1 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium on Friday night.

Ashton Sautner (1-0-1) had the lone goal for the Comets, while Joe Cannata saved 13 of the IceCaps 15 shots on goal.

The IceCaps struck first with a goal from Angelo Miceli 13:55 into the first period. Miceli brought it down the right side of the ice, in front of the net, and wrapped a shot around Cannata to take a 1-0 lead. Luke Pither and Tim Bozon assisted on the goal.

The Comets tied the game 1-1, 1:21 into the second period, when Sautner took the puck down the left side of the ice and ripped a wrist shot off the post, and into the net for his third goal of the season. Travis Ehrhardt was credited with the assist.

After a scoreless third period, the game went to overtime. In overtime, Andrey Pedan was called for a boarding penalty, and the IceCaps capitalized on the power play. Bud Holloway put a slap shot past Cannata 2:42 into the extra frame to give the IceCaps a 2-1 win. Mark Barberio assisted on the game-winning goal.

The Comets had 31 shots on the night, while the IceCaps had 15. Eddie Pasquale made 30 saves for the IceCaps.