COMETS BATTLE BRUINS FOR THIRD TIME THIS SEASON
Dec 27, 2017UTICA COMETS (13-12-5) vs. PROVIDENCE BRUINS (19-8-2)
Adirondack Bank Center, 7 p.m.
Watch Live: AHL Live | Listen Live: 94.9 K-ROCK, Desktop or Mobile
Follow and Interact Live: Twitter | Hashtag: #PROvsUTI
Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets faceoff with the Providence Bruins for the first time at home this season. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
Last Game: The Utica Comets defeated the Syracuse Crunch by a score of 2-1 Saturday night at the Onondaga County War Memorial Arena. Michael Chaput put the Comets up 1-0 54 seconds into the second period, burying a one-timer past Domingue. Griffen Molino and Patrick Wiercioch had the assists. Erik Condra tied the game at one five minutes later. Molino regained the Comets’ lead with 3:06 to go in the middle frame. Cole Cassels tallied the assist. Demko shut the door on the Crunch in the third period to seal the victory. He finished with 23 saves and his record improves to 11-6-3.
Head-to-Head: The Bruins lead the season series 2-0-0, winning in overtime 3-2 on December on 9 and 4-3 in overtime on December 10. Utica is 4-2-2 all-time against Providence.
Scouting the Bruins: The Bruins come in with a record of 19-8-2 and sit in first place in the Atlantic Division. They most recently defeated the Springfield Thunderbirds 2-1 in a shootout this past Saturday. Austin Czarnik leads the offense with 26 points, followed by Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson and Kenny Agostino with 19 points each. Jordan Binnington is the leading goaltender with an 8-1-1 record, a 1.65 goals against average, and a .936% save percentage.
Rolling: Patrick Wiercioch continues to produce offensively for the Comets. Wiercioch is riding a four-game point streak heading into tonight’s contest. In addition, he and forward Michael Carcone own three-game point streaks on home ice.
Unbeatable: The Comets’ penalty kill has been lights out as of late. The PK unit has not allowed a goal in three straight games and have killed off 18 of their last 19 penalties. The Comets kill ranks 10th in the AHL at 84.6%.
Batten Down the Thatch: Thatcher Demko has been a brick wall for the Comets lately. Demko has won three straight starts and has not allowed more than two goals in any of those starts. The second year goaltender has compiled a 1.33 goals-against average and a .949% save percentage in that timespan.
Rising Rookies: Rookie forward Zack MacEwen and Alexis D’Aoust continue to shine in their expanded roles. D’Aoust has collected three points (1-2-3) in the last three games and has totaled 12 points on the year (7-5-12). MacEwen has contributed with two assists in the last five games and has also racked up 12 points (2-10-12) this season.
Next Game: The Comets return to action Friday night for a rematch with the Bruins. Puck drop is at 7pm at the Adirondack Bank Center. Fans are encouraged to utilize the ticket exchange website, StubHub!. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHL Live.