The Utica Comets will have a chance to tie up their series with the Manchester Monarchs on Friday after a 3-2 win in their first home game of the series on Wednesday.
In addition to having Canucks brass on hand, Vancouver's Twitter-master Derek Jory has also made his way to Utica to document the experience of having the farm team competing for the AHL championship.
After having been badly outshot for the first two games of the series, the Comets came out strong in Game 3, with raucous support from their sold-out home crowd.
Utica got 17 shots in all of Game 1, but matched that total in the first period on Wednesday as they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on goals from Cal O'Reilly and Alex Grenier.
I can't find a GIF of Grenier's goal, but it's included in this highlight package:
I particularly liked seeing what a giant the 6'5" Grenier is as he hugs his linemates O'Reilly and Wacey Hamilton after scoring. That's the kind of body the Canucks could use up front next season!
The other big news from the first period—an injury to Manchester's starting goaltender Jean-Francois Berube at the 7:51 mark of the first period, with the score 1-0 and the Comets holding a 9-2 edge in shots at that time.
There was no contact with Berube when he was injured, but he looked to be in severe pain when he went down.
Berube's edge caught the ice as he fell. That's how he got injured. No word on how severe.
Backup Patrik Bartosak went the rest of the way in a solid effort—especially considering that he hadn't dressed in the first two games of the series due to an injury of his own.
The Monarchs also lost another key player, 2014-15 AHL MVP Brian O'Neill, when he was hit awkwardly into the boards by Utica's Alex Friesen early in the first period. I'm not so sure I'd call this "vicious boarding" but a penalty probably should have been called on the play:
AHL MVP 2015, Brian O’Neill, was viciously boarded by Alex Friesen - NO penalty! That's how the entire night went. https://t.co/Qyp3QZ6juD
Shinkaruk did finish the game and DeFazio has been spotted at practice today, so it looks like they should both be good to go for Game 4. Also worth noting—Jake Virtanen was scratched for Game 3 due to illness. No report yet on whether he'll be available on Friday.
All the scoring was complete by the 7:22 mark of the second period. Eighteen-year-old Adrian Kempe, who was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the 2014 draft, scored both goals for the Monarchs and Nick Jensen was credited with Utica's game-winner at 6:18 of the second—a goal that was originally credited as Cal O'Reilly's second of the night.
A one-goal lead is a dangerous thing, but the Comets were able to hang on through the second half of the game. The edge in play gradually shifted as the game wore on, with the shots tied at 14-14 in the second period and Manchester holding the 11-7 edge in the third, but Jacob Markstrom and his team were able to grab their first win of the series—in regulation time, no less.
If both Berube and O'Neill are knocked out of action for Manchester, that changes the lay of the land considerably in a series where the Comets were looking like the underdog, but only being beaten by the slimmest of margins in the first two games.
Nick Jensen has impressed in his first two games back after a stretch in the press box as a healthy scratch. He has goals in consecutive games and posted a team-high six shots on goal on Wednesday.
#Canucks prospect report: A healthy scratch at times in this playoff, Nicklas Jensen nets winner for Comets in Game 3 http://t.co/XYRe6l64N9
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