A four-goal third period surge courtesy of the Utica Comets resulted in another tough loss at a key juncture of the season for the Belleville Senators, 5-2 on Friday night.
Utica snuck in a powerplay goal right before the buzzer to end the first period off the stick of Xavier Parent with 0.6 seconds left in the first frame.
The second period saw the Senators even up the scoreboard just past the fourteen-minute mark. A pass from Tyler Boucher led to a point shot from Landen Hookey, tipped in by Garrett Pilon for a 1-1 tie.
Things broke open in the third, with Ryan Schmelzer setting up Jonathan Gruden for a backhand redirection while shorthanded to give Utica the 2-1 lead.
would net a similar goal just over two minutes later, as Parent set up Brian Halonen for his seventeenth of the year and a 3-1 lead. The Comets widened the gap a couple of minutes later, thanks to a Schmelzer deflection off a pass from Ethan Edwards.
The Senators were able to pull one back. A puck carried in by Landen Hookey saw him drop it off for Tyler Boucher, whose long shot found a way past Jakub Malek, cutting the deficit to 4-2. The Comets added an empty-net goal off the stick of Topias Vilen to restore their three-goal lead to make it a 5-2 final.
The Senators will have some deja vu as they take the same trip as last week, right back to CAA Arena to cap off this four-game set and home-and-home series versus Utica tomorrow. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. for the eighth meeting of the season.
