COMETS HEAD TO SALT CITY SUNDAY
May 2, 2021Today's Game: This afternoon's game marks the first game of the month of May for the Comets and the last of nine games this season. Of the nine games left, five of them are against the Syracuse Crunch. While the Comets have an incredible 8-1 record at home, on the road they haven't fared as well with a 4-6-0-1 record. Their last road outing was a loss against the Crunch by a 7-1 score. The loss prompted the team to dig deep in the next two games at home which turned into victories against the Crunch and Rochester Americans. Today's road game is the one of five remaining on the schedule.
Last Game: The Comets, who have only lost a single home game all season, dominated the Rochester Americans on Friday night at the Adirondack Bank Center. The game marked the return to the crease by goaltender Mike DiPietro who ended as the game's third star stopping a penalty shot in the first period as well as excellent play throughout the contest in his first real game in over one year. The Comets registered goals from seven different players on the night. One of them, Nikita Alexandrov, made his North American debut while scoring a goal and adding an assist. Forward Jonah Gadjovich put up the season's first "Gordie Howe" hat-trick when he scored, tallied an assist and had a fight as well. Defenseman Josh Wesley had his first multi-point game of the season with two assists. Also skating away with a multi-point night were Curtis McKenzie, Carson Focht, and Lukas Jasek.
Scouting the Crunch: Coming off a game last night against the Rochester Americans, the Crunch were defeated by a 3-1 score. The Crunch enter tonight's game with a record of 15-9-2-0. They sit at the fourth spot of the North Division and 10th in the league. In their last 10 games they are 6-3-1 having lost back to back games, Their record at home is 8-6. The Crunch leading scorers are Boris Katchouk (11-18-29), Taylor Raddysh (9-15-24), Otto Somppi (10-13-23).
Mike DiPietro Returns: Recently reassigned by Vancouver from the Canucks Taxi Squad, Mike DiPietro return to the Comets crease on Friday night and left the game as the third star to the contest stopping 20 of 21 shots including a first period penalty shot against Rochester's Brent Gates Jr. DiPietro spent the 2019-20 season with Utica, posting a 2.79 GAA and a .908 SV% over 36 games as a rookie. He boasted a 21-11-2 record in goal for the Comets. A native of Windsor, Ontario, DiPietro was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by Vancouver. He has since played 2 NHL games including one in the 19-20 campaign. DiPietro is a product of the OHL, having spent four seasons with the Windsor Spitfires and 17 games with the Ottawa 67’s. He was also a member of team Canada at the 2019 World Junior Championships.
Gadjovich to Vancouver: The news came out late on Saturday night that Comets leading goal scorer, Jonah Gadjovich was recalled to the Canucks and would get an opportunity to play with the big club. Gadjovich, who played in 100 games of the Comets was tied for second in the AHL with 15 goals scored which is also lead the Comets at the time of his recall. He remains tied with forward Sam Anas for the team lead in points with 18 this season.