Utica Comets surge to 5-3 win over Belleville Senators

Utica opened the game with a three-goal first period and backed by five consecutive goals built a 5-0 lead on Feb. 27 at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica, New York before holding off a late Belleville rally in a 5-3 victory. Angus Crookshank scored twice and Utica announced an attendance of 2,252 fans as Daws made 23 saves to earn his 53rd career win with Utica, two shy of Thatcher Demko’s mark with the club.

Jack Malone supplied the game’s opening goal at 8:42 and finished among three Comets with two points. Shane Lachance scored at 12:01 and Kyle Criscuolo followed with a goal at 13:21 late in the first period; Criscuolo is a 13-year AHL veteran who has recorded six assists and eight points in his past 10 games. Malone said, “If we get up to an early lead like we did, you can use that to your advantage,” and added, “Huge win (Friday). … But, it is not different than any other game. Every one is important. We just want to keep it going.”

Angus Crookshank extended the lead with a second-period goal at 28:31 and struck again early in the third at 41:30 to push the Comets to 5-0. BellevilleSens notes Crookshank is a former Senator and has 14 goals and 21 points through 40 games in his first season outside Ottawa. The Rink Live recap emphasized Crookshank’s two-goal game and listed the scoring sequence that put Utica comfortably ahead entering the final frame.

Belleville mounted a late comeback, with Xavier Bourgault scoring at 51:13 and again at 57:18 while Lassi Thomson scored at 52:03, narrowing the final margin to 5-3. RomeSentinel reported that Belleville broke up Daws’ shutout bid with under 10 minutes to go; Parent said, “Daws was huge for us. He was dialed in.” Malone noted the cushion the early goals provided, saying, “With the lead that we were able to give ourselves in the first and second it gave us some wiggle room. It is just coming out hard and sticking to our game plan.”

Standings context was mixed in pregame and postgame reports. BellevilleSens listed Utica as 16-25-5-4 and outscored 161–121 entering the game, while Belleville was listed pregame at 21-25-8-0 and described as six points out of the final playoff spot in the North Division. RomeSentinel recorded Utica’s postgame mark as 17-25-5-4 and noted the Comets were seven points back of sixth-place Belleville after Friday’s result.

This game began a home-and-home series between the North Division rivals and is one of four meetings over a week, with another home-and-home set for the first weekend of March. Sources differ on the next-game details: RomeSentinel lists the teams meeting again at 7 p.m. Saturday in Ontario, BellevilleSens had pregame puck drop at 7:00 p.m. ET and AHLTV coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m. with David Foot and Tyler King, and RinkLive shows the next game as Saturday, Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. CST.

Beyond the standings, RomeSentinel flagged the NHL trade deadline at 3 p.m. Friday, March 6 as a looming roster factor that could directly affect the Comets. Malone framed the series with Belleville as high stakes: “We’re trying to chase them down. We kind of look at these games against them as four-point games.” Utica’s victory reshapes that chase and sets up a tight slate of meetings as the AHL regular season moves toward the trade deadline.