HAMILTON, Ont. -- The Hamilton Bulldogs stressed the need for a strong start before Saturday's game, but the reality on the ice didn't go as planned. Instead, the Utica Comets scored twice in the first period and the Bulldogs never dug out of the early hole.

Benn Ferriero scored twice and Joe Cannata made 32 saves as the Comets defeated the Bulldogs 3-1 in the American Hockey League on Saturday.

"Our first point before the game was that we needed a good start," said Hamilton head coach Sylvain Lefebvre. "They scored two goals early in the first and then we found ourselves battling through adversity and trying to play catch-up.

"We just didn't have it tonight. All-in-all, we just weren't sharp and we couldn't make things work."

Alexandre Grenier also scored for the Comets (12-20-5), who snapped a six-game losing streak with the victory. Comets leading scorer Pascal Pelletier had three assists to increase his point total to 11 in his past eight games.

Maxime Macenauer scored the lone goal for the Bulldogs (19-15-4), while Dustin Tokarski stopped 31 shots.

Sven Andrighetto had a chance to score for Hamilton three minutes into the game, but the Bulldogs' winger could not get his stick on the cross-ice pass from linemate Martin St. Pierre.

The Bulldogs had possibly their best scoring chance of the first period when Justin Courtnall sprung a short-handed rush with Greg Pateryn in the box for tripping. The winger's initial shot was stopped by Cannata, with Patrick Holland unsuccessfully jamming at the loose rebound.

Utica opened the scoring with what looked like a harmless shot from Ferriero at 11:21. After waiting for a thick screen to develop in front of Tokarski, Peter Andersson released a slow, rising wrist shot that tipped off both Pelletier and Ferriero before beating the goaltender, who didn't see the puck until the last moment.

The Comets doubled their advantage through an almost identical move on the power play at 13:42 when Henrik Tommernes fired a high slap shot that deflected off Grenier in front, and beat the goaltender over the blocking glove at the far post.

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Ferriero scores twice to lead Comets over Bulldogs