UTICA The Utica Comets mounted a third-period comeback by erasing a two-goal deficit but were unable to steal a win away in the shootout and wound up falling to the Hamilton Bulldogs, 4-3, on Saturday at the sold-out Utica Memorial Auditorium.

Alexandre Grenier, Darren Archibald and Henrik Tommernes each scored a goal for the Comets, as Tommernes late third period goal sent the game to overtime.

Comets goaltender Joe Cannata, who was named the games third star, made 37 saves, including 16 in the first period, in the defeat.

Nicklas Jensen and Grenier scored in the shootout for the Comets, the second of the season for each.

After a hooking minor by Jerred Tinordi with 21 seconds left in the frame, Grenier knocked one in just 10 seconds into the man advantage to put Utica in front by one in the first period.

Hamilton would go on to score three unanswered goals from the second to third periods. Gabriel Dumont collected a loose puck in the offensive zone and fired past Cannata to level the score at 1-1 just 27 seconds into the second period.

The two teams traded chances for the majority of the second, with just a 12-10 shots on goal advantage for the Bulldogs, before Louis Leblanc put Hamilton ahead 2-1 off a ricocheted shot got past Cannata.

The Bulldogs added one more tally to the scoreboard when Greg Pateryn made a slapshot from the point, 47 seconds into the third.

The Comets rally began when Archibald cut the deficit in half at the 4:27 mark after he beat three Hamilton defenders and fired a wrist shot past Tokarski.

In a dramatic finish to regulation, Tommernes unloaded one to tie the game with just 1:04 on the clock.

Read more here:

Comets fall after late rally