Daws Reaches 56th Career Win as Comets Edge Rocket in Shootout

Nico Daws already owned the record for most appearances in Utica Comets history. On Wednesday night at Place Bell, he claimed the franchise's wins record too.

Daws stopped 30 of 31 shots in regulation, three shots in overtime, and two shootout attempts to earn his 56th career win with the Utica Comets in a 2-1 shootout victory over the Laval Rocket. The milestone surpassed Thatcher Demko as the winningest goaltender in Utica's franchise history.

The game unfolded as a defensive grind from the start. It was the Rocket who had the game's first big scoring chance when Laval forward Sean Farrell was denied at the top of the crease just over a minute in by Daws, who made a number of quality saves in the first period. Laval eventually broke through when Alex Belzile set up Farrell in the slot, whose shot squeaked through the pads of Daws to make it 1-0 at 18:27 for Farrell's 15th of the year.

Utica answered in the third period. A long stretch pass from the Utica zone hit Marc McLaughlin in stride as he split both Adam Engström and David Reinbacher, and McLaughlin held the puck just enough to poke a pass over to Calen Addison, who beat Kähkönen over the glove to tie the game. Addison's goal came at the 14:46 mark of the third period.

Daws was at his best when the game was on the line. He made arguably his best save of the game with 1:41 remaining in overtime, stopping a point-blank chance by Marc Del Gaizo. Daws, making his career-best 39th appearance on Wednesday, finished with 33 saves.

The shootout belonged to Utica from the opening attempt. Angus Crookshank shot first for the Comets and beat Kaapo Kahkonen on a beautiful forehand-to-backhand deke to give Utica a 1-0 lead in the shootout. After Daws made a tremendous left pad save on Sammy Blais, Topias Vilén ripped a wrister past Kahkonen to put the Comets up 2-0. Sean Farrell shot for Laval in the second round and was stoned by Daws, who picked up his 56th win as a Comet, making him the new all-time leader among goaltenders in wins in franchise history.

The Comets were outshot by the Rocket 34-22, while going 0-for-3 on the power play and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill. Daws' record stands at 13-16-7-1 this season, with a goals-against average of 2.93 and a save percentage of .888.

The 25-year-old is in the final year of a two-year contract carrying an average annual value of $812,500 and is set to become a restricted free agent at the conclusion of the 2025-26 campaign. Over the past five seasons, he has played 137 games with the Comets and 53 with the New Jersey Devils, including one this season where he earned a victory against the Minnesota Wild. Wednesday's record-breaking night may well be his most compelling argument heading into the offseason.