COMETS CLOSE OUT SEASON WITH SHOWDOWN AGAINST CRUNCH
Apr 14, 2019UTICA COMETS (33-34-6-2) vs. SYRACUSE CRUNCH (47-21-4-3)
Adirondack Bank Center, 5 p.m.
Watch Live: AHLTV | Listen Live: 94.9 K-ROCK
Follow and Interact Live: Twitter | Hashtag: #SYRvsUTI
Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets wrap up the 2018-19 season against the Syracuse Crunch in Game 12 of the Galaxy Cup series. Puck drop is at 5 p.m.
Last Game: Kole Lind scored his second goal in as many nights, but the Utica Comets couldn’t overcome the Hershey Bears during a 4-1 loss on Saturday at Giant Center. In his AHL debut, Ty Reichenbach made 22 saves on 25 shots.
Head-to-Head: This is the final meeting between the Comets and Crunch this year. Syracuse leads the season series 7-4-0-0 and won the most recent matchup 6-2 back on March 30. The Comets are 13-8-2-2 in the last five seasons at home against Syracuse.
Scouting the Crunch: Syracuse comes into tonight’s contest with a record of 47-21-4-3 and sit in first place in the North Division. They most recently beat the Rochester Americans 4-3 last night. Carter Verhaeghe leads the offense with 81 points, followed by Alex Barre-Boulet with 68 points. Eddie Pasquale is the top goaltender with a record of 27-12-6, a 2.35 goals-against average, and .916 save percentage.
Record Hunting: Reid Boucher is on the verge of breaking another Comets record. Boucher is tied with Pascal Pelletier for the team’s all-time record for points in a single season. Boucher already owns the record for goals in a single season. The forward has62 points (31-31-62) in 56 games this season.
Thank You, Jaime: Tonight will be the final game of Jaime Sifers’ hockey career. Sifers, 36, has enjoyed 13 seasons of hockey in the pro ranks, including nearly 650 in the AHL. His career has spanned across the NHL, AHL, and DEL (Germany) and has included over 800 regular season games. He was also his team’s Man of the Year three times. The defenseman has recorded 14 points (4-10-14) in 69 games this year.
Czech Mate: Marek Mazanec has played phenomenally down the stretch for the Comets. In his past two games, the Czech-born keeper has only allowed one goal while stopping 46 shots. Additionally, he became the first goaltender to record a shutout for the Comets this season when he stopped all 21 shots he faced on April 6 in Hartford.
Heating Up: Kole Lind is starting to find a groove on offense. Lind has scored in back-to-back games and has set up a number of scoring chances as well. The rookie forward has 16 points (5-11-16) in 50 games this season.
Taking Kero Business: Tanner Kero has looked sharp since returning from injury. Kero slotted right back in on the top line with Tom Pyatt and Reid Boucher and recorded two points in two games (0-2-2). That could bode well tonight, as Kero has eight points (2-6-8) in 11 games against the Crunch this season. Overall, the forward has tallied a career-high 56 points (24-32-56) in 66 games this season.