During a battle of the Outaouais Senior AA Hockey League’s (OSAAHL) bottom-feeders, the Comets took down the expansion Mont-Tremblant Diables on the road on Saturday night by a score of 7-5.

Their second road win of the season, the victory brought the Comets’ record to 2-4-0 after six games, placing them just above the 1-5-0 Diables who occupy the fourth and final spot.

After dropping three straight games heading into the tilt, the Comets were determined to do what they hadn’t done in nearly a month – come out strong and maintain a high level of intensity and discipline for a full 60 minutes.

In the first period, the Comets started off with a bang. Just under five minutes in, Matthew Warren netted his team-leading sixth goal of the season, assisted by Olivier Donovan and Ryan Peck, making it 1-0.

Around eight minutes later, Guillaume Gregoire doubled the Comets’ lead, with his first goal of the season, set up by Benoit Nadon and Stephen Blunden.

Nearing the end of the period, holding a firm advantage over their opponent, the Comets felt comfortable heading into the break.

But with just over two minutes remaining in the frame, the Diables answered with two goals in the space of eight seconds, making it a 2-2 deadlock heading into the intermission.

In the second period, the Comets were hungry to take back the lead that they had given up at the closing stages of the first. However, the Diables scored a third straight goal, making it 3-2.

Around 30 seconds later, the Comets responded with one of their own, on Benoit Harris’ first of the season, assisted by Nadon and Blunden.

Then, the boys from Coulonge exploded with three consecutive goals before the end of the period to make it 6-3 at the break.

Goal scorers and set-up artists included, Ryan Peck from Donovan, followed by back to back powerplay markers by Warren from Justin Lafleur and Darcy Findlay, and Harris from Findlay.

Early in the third period, the Diables made it a two-goal game. Until the closing stages of the game, the Comets held onto their advantage, before Gregoire potted the insurance marker, his second of the night, with just under two minutes left.

In the final minute, the Diables put up a final tally, making it 7-5. However, it meant nothing more than consolation in the end.

After the game, Comets’ goaltender Danick Boisvert praised his team’s performance and added that it felt great for him and his teammates to finally get back to their winning ways.

“The guys are happy,” he said. “The chemistry is a lot better. It’s really fun.”

As far as his team’s keys to victory, he was thrilled with how his team maintained a consistent level of speed, intensity and positivity throughout the game.

“We had grit,” he said. “We were skating. The team was great. The guys were encouraging each other on the bench.”

Following a number of roster changes over the last couple of weeks, Boisvert believes the team has finally found a group of guys that mesh well together on and off the ice.

After recently acquiring a number of dynamic players like forward Justin Charbonneau as well as blueliners Justin Lafleur and Jeremy Picard Fiset, the Comets’ netminder noted that the overall atmosphere around the rink has shifted significantly and for the better.

“We made a couple of moves in the last couple of weeks,” he said. “It did us really good”

“We were missing speed,” he added. “We were missing grit and we were missing smiles. Everyone is smiling. Everyone is having fun playing hockey and that’s how we want it to be. We want things to continue like this. It’s very positive.”

While he admitted that it felt great to walk out of the rink with a positive result, Boisvert noted that the Comets’ special teams unit needs work, specifically when it comes to in-zone coverage.

“We need to capitalize on our powerplays,” he said. “On the [penalty kill], a couple of their goals were scored on the [powerplay]. We have to make sure that our wingers keep an eye on their d-men. We have to play our system and we shouldn’t have any problems.”

Now, with a tough schedule ahead of them, Boisvert stated that if he and his teammates maintain the same level of positivity and effort going forward, they’ll put themselves in the best position to be successful.

“It won’t be easy,” he said. “But that’s how we’re going to win games.”

For their next game, the Comets will look for revenge as they hit the road to take on the second place (4-2-0) Mont-Laurier Montagnards, on Nov. 9.

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