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ABBOTSFORD, B. Aroldis Chapman Jersey .C. -- Pascal Pelletier has been attempting to carry the Utica Comets on his back this season. He got some help from an unlikely source Saturday night. Pelletier scored in overtime and added an assist as the Comets defeated the Abbotsford Heat 4-3 in American Hockey League action. The Comets, who lost 10 straight games to start the season, have now won four of their past five, and its no coincidence that Pelletier has three goals and three assists in that span. "Hes our leader and we always count him to produce for us," said teammate Kellan Lain. "Anytime we can get secondary scoring, that helps out big because we rely heavily on those guys." Lain also provided some help with two goals -- the first of his professional career. "Hes one of the kids thats been improving a lot," said Pelletier of the six-foot-six centre. "Hes got a bit role on this team. Maybe the fans wont see what he does because hes a defensive kind of guy, blocking shots, winning face-offs, but on a hockey club the job that hes doing is huge. And hes going to fight and stick up for his teammates. "Hes a big part of our club and I think he has a bright future." Pelletiers goal ended the game in which the Heat scored first and the Comets blew leads of 2-1 and 3-2. The Labrador City, N.L., native one-timed a centring pass from Colin Stuart in the slot at 2:07 of the extra period. "I went down the middle and tried to hold on to it as much as I could to see what was going to happen and Stuart was flying on the wall. I passed it to him behind their D and he passed it back to me for a one-timer tap-in." Stuart also had a goal for the Comets. Joe Cannata made 33 saves to give him back-to-back victories. Though still last in the Western Conference, the win brings them out of the AHL cellar. "We struggled early in the season scoring goals so we emphasized putting pucks on the net, drive net and see what happens," said Pelletier. "We saw on the first goal, a shot on net tip, second goal was a scramble. The third and fourth were better plays, but in the AHL and the NHL youre scoring chances just starting with a shot." Ben Street had a goal and an assist for Abbotsford (17-6-2), who lost back-to-back games for the first time since Oct. 18 but hang on to first place in the league. Turner Elson and Josh Jooris also scored, both snapping extending scoring droughts. "Some days they havent done a damn thing and some days theyve been really good," said Heat coach Troy Ward of Elson and Jooris. "I was happy for them. Turners been competing, but he hasnt got as much ice time as others on this team. Hes a young guy kind of paying his dues. And if anybody needed a goal on our team, it was probably Josh Jooris in a lot of ways. His compete has been way higher of late, and hes got a bit of mojo playing with Ben Street." Joey MacDonald stopped 22 shots in net for the Heat. The Heat drew first blood at 10:37 of the first. Elson pounced on the rebound of a Chad Billins point shot, beating Cannata high blocker side, for his second of the year and first since Oct. 11. However, the Comets tied the game at 17:13. Yannick Webers point shot was deflected by Lain, with Patrick Mullen also providing a screen, giving Weber four points in four games since being demoted to the Comets by the Vancouver Canucks. The Comets took the lead at 16:24 of the second. Lain knocked Alex Biegas rebound past MacDonald. "Its definitely exciting," said Lain of finally scoring in his 32nd career AHL game. "Ive been working hard for it, and I had a lot of chances the first 20 or so games. But you just cant get down on yourself -- youve got to keep going, and I got some good bounces." The Heat had a goal disallowed with less than three minutes to play in the second. A Comets defenceman fell into Cannata, pushing the netminder with the puck across the goal-line. However it was ruled the player tripped on Jooris, who was driving past the net. Jooris made amends at the 3:51 mark of the third period. He took a great cross-ice feed from Street and found a little room short side on Cannata, giving him his first goal since the season opener, a span of 20 games. Stuart regained the Utica lead however less than two minutes later. He walked out of the left corner into the slot untouched and backhanded the puck over the sprawling netminder giving him five goals on the year. Street scored his team-leading 12th of the season at 9:07, blazing down the left wing on a power play before unleashing a slapshot blocker side from the face-off dot. "Theyre a good club," said Pelletier of the Heat. "They skate well and counter attack very well. We made a couple mistakes that cost us. But overall the effort was there. It was hard for us the way we travelled the last couple of days and stuff but it was a good hockey game overall." New York Yankees Gear . -- Coyotes coach Dave Tippett thinks of one thing when he watches Eastern Conference teams struggle against Western opponents before they get to Phoenix: His team must keep pace. David Wells Jersey . The injury could land Machado on the 15-day disabled list, but its not as serious as it looked on Monday night, when the third baseman crumpled in a heap at the plate after taking an awkward swing in a game against the New York Yankees. CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Venus Williams advanced in the tournament where her top-ranked sister could not, battling from behind at the Family Circle Cup to defeat Chanelle Scheepers 7-5, 7-5 on Wednesday. It was another long day for Williams, ranked No. 28 in the world, who needed 1 hour, 50 minutes to finish the straight-set victory over the South African. Williams fell behind 3-1 in the first set and trailed 4-1 in the second. "She was playing so well, but the good thing is that when I get behind, I give even more effort and get even more focused. And Ive been playing well from behind lately, which is something you really have to be able to do to win big matches," Williams said. The seven-time Grand Slam champion has battled injuries and Sjogrens syndrome, a fatigue-causing autoimmune disease, during the past two years. She was on the green clay in Charleston for 2 hours, 15 minutes on Tuesday in a three-set victory and said she has been ill this week. "Im still dealing with the bug, but my goal is just to hang in there until it hopefully goes away and then I can just continue to play my way into the tournament and play stronger," she said. "But its definitely a challenge." On Tuesday night her sister, top-ranked Serena Williams, was stunned 6-4, 6-4 by Jana Cepelova of Slovakia, ranked No. 78 in the world, in the second round. Serena Williams said later she was tired and needed time off to regroup. "I definitely can see where she is tired and her body is taxed," Venus Williams said of her sister. "She gave an amazing effort yesterday, and shes going to get some well-deserved time off from winning." Venus Williams, who won the Family Circle a decade ago, now faces No. 20 Eugenie Bouchard. No. 8 Jeleena Jankovic, the tournaments No. Raul Mondesi Jersey. 2 seed, later scored a 6-0, 6-3 victory over American Lauren Davis. Jankovic won the Family Circle back in 2007 and was runner-up last year to Serena Williams. Earlier Wednesday, American Sloane Stephens was upset 6-4, 6-4 by 19-year-old Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine, who has a career-high No. 35 ranking. It was her fourth career victory over a top 20 player, the third coming last week at the Sony Open. "She played pretty well, and its just unfortunate that I lost, but I mean, you can just learn from the mistakes and things like that and build on it," Stephens said. "I started to believe more in myself that I can compete with players like this, top level, top 20 and top 10," said Svitolina, who is making her first appearance on the green clay in Charleston. "I think this is the key. That I believe more in myself and I play more solid from the baseline and trying to go forward to finish the point earlier." In other matches, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia defeated American qualifier Grace Min 6-2, 6-3 while Elena Vesnina of Russia stopped Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Italian Sara Errani, ranked No. 11 in the world and seeded third, advanced as well. She won the first set 6-3 when qualifier Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands retired. Fourth-seeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany was extended to three sets before defeating American Vania King 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Andrea Petkovic of Germany, the 14th seed, defeated Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain 6-0, 6-0 while Shuai Peng of China eliminated 15th-seeded Madison Keys of the United States 6-1, 6-7 (3) and 7-6 (4). Qualifier Belinda Bencic of Switzerland defeated Marina Erakovic of New Zealand 6-2, 6-1. ' ' '