AT&T Center – If there is one team that has been the thorn in the side for the San Antonio Rampage, it is the Utica Comets. The Silver and Black are 0-2 against the Vancouver Canucks affiliate. On a Saturday, the pain from the thorn would be too strong once again.
San Antonio (13-6-2-0) got goals from four different players, but it would not be enough as they suffered a 5-4 loss in overtime to Utica (16-5-3-0) in front of a crowd of 5,637 at the AT&T Center on Friday evening.
“We made it harder on ourselves, we did not want to grind it out,” Rampage head coach Tom Rowe said. “When you play like we did for the majority of the game, we get what we deserve. We didn’t play good.”
Alexandre Grenier got Utica on the board first with a power play goal. Grenier would bury the puck past San Antonio goaltender Dan Ellis at 15:04 of the first period to put the visitors up by a goal going into the second period.
Utica took a 2-0 lead just over a minute into the second period. Ronalds Kenins put home a rebound off a Alex Biega shot past a diving Ellis and tipped the puck into the net.
The Rampage finally lit the lamp just over two minutes later while the Comets were on the power play. Brett Olson got free on a breakaway and put the puck off the back of Utica netminder Joacim Erikkson and into the net for a short-handed tally. Utica took back their two goal lead when Bobby Sanguinetti’s shot got past Ellis to make it 3-1 at the 7:40 mark of the middle frame.
San Antonio got back within one with a short-handed goal from Steven Kampfer. Alex Petrovic put home a power play goal late in the second period to knot the game at 3-3 going into the third and final period of regulation.
The Rampage took the lead for the first time midway though the third period. Logan Shaw put home Connor Brickley’s shot from the circle past Eriksson to put San Antonio up 4-3.
With time running out in regulation, Utica would even the score once again. Dustin Jeffery beat Ellis for this fourth point of the game and would sent the Rampage to their third straight overtime game. 3:17 into the extra period, Alex Biega sealed the 5-4 win for Utica.
San Antonio outshot the Comets 37-34 for the game. The Silver and Black finished 1-for-3 on the power play and Utica was 2-for-4.
The Rampage will return to the ice on Sunday afternoon when they welcome the Chicago Wolves to the AT&T Center at 4 p.m.
