UTICA BATTLES IN BELLEVILLE TUESDAY NIGHT
Mar 15, 2022The Last Time Out: The Utica Comets battled the Rochester Americans for the ninth time this season. Winning five times in the season series, Utica couldn’t add to the win column, falling short 3-2 to Rochester last Saturday night at home inside the Adirondack Bank Center.
In the first period, the lone goal was scored by Rochester’s Jimmy Schuldt at 2:38. The Comets led in shots on goal 13-3, but trail 1-0 throughout the first twenty minutes of regulation.
In the second period, the Comets got on the board at 6:43, with a beautiful shot coming from center Aarne Talvitie, who got some help from Joe Gambardella and Michael Vukojevic, tying the game 1-1. Later, at 13:40, Rochester would re-take the lead with a goal from Lukas Craggs, and after forty minutes of play, the Comets trail 2-1.
In the third period, at 4:53, the Comets would find the back of the net once again with some good passing coming from AJ Greer and Alexander Holtz, who would find Ryan Schmelzer in front of the net, to tie the game at 2-2. Linus Weissbach would soon find back of the net at 8:30, making it 3-2 Rochester. That was all the Americans needed to secure the victory as the Comets end the night defeated, 3-2.
Comets Leading Scorers: The team’s leading scorers heading into the weekend is Chase DeLeo, scoring 12 goals and 29 assists for 41 points in 38 games played. Tied with him are forwards Fabian Zetterlund with 20 goals and 21 assists for 41 points in 48 games played and rookie Alex Holtz with 21 goals and 20 assists for 41 points in 36 games. Reilly Walsh leads all d-men in scoring with six goals and 28 assists for 34 points in 51 games. Defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon leads the team in plus/minus with a +24 rating.
Special Teams Ranking: Heading into the week, the Comets begin with the 9th ranked power play operating at 21.2%. On the road, their power-play strikes at 8th in the league at 21.9%. On the penalty kill, Utica ranks 16th in the league at 80.8% while on the road they are 28th at 73.8%
The North Division: The Comets have 20 games remaining in the schedule with 52 games played so far this season. They currently hold a record of 34-12-6 which gives them 74 points on the season and a winning percentage of .712. This leads all teams in the North and the Eastern Conference. The closest team’s point total to the Comets is Rochester with 62 points but they have played five more games than Utica. The closest team in terms of winning percentage is Toronto with a .760.
Pucks and Pups on Monday: We are excited to announce that Monday, March 21st will be Pucks and Pups! Fans can bring their dogs to come enjoy Comets hockey and all kinds of dog friendly vendors in the concourse. We'll have photo ops, toys and all kinds of fun for our good boys and girls. The first 100 dogs in attendance will receive a Utica Comets gift!