COMETS DUEL WITH DEVILS THIS AFTERNOON
Feb 20, 2017UTICA COMETS (20-23-8) vs. ALBANY DEVILS (30-22-2)
Times Union Center, 1:00 p.m.
Watch Live: AHL Live | Listen Live: 94.9 K-ROCK, Desktop or Mobile
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Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets do battle with the Albany Devils. Puck drops at 1 p.m. at the Times Union Center.
Last Game: The Comets suffered a 7-4 loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms last night at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Jordan Subban opened the scoring to give the Comets a 1-0 lead after one period. Andrey Pedan made it 2-0 just 4:30 into the middle frame. Chris Conner and Robert Hagg scored a minute apart to tie the game halfway through the second period. Cody Kunyk retook the lead with a shorthanded goal, but TJ Brennan tied the game again just 26 seconds later. Hagg struck again five minutes into the third period to give the Phantoms their first lead of the game. Brennan gave Lehigh Valley a two-goal lead a minute later. Alexandre Grenier scored on the power play to put the Comets back within one, but empty net goals from Brennan and Cole Bardreau sealed the win for the visitors. Thatcher Demko stopped 26 shots and his record fell to 9-11-4.
Head-to-Head: The Comets lead the season series 3-1-1 and won the most recent matchup, a 4-2 victory on January 6. The Comets have outscored the Devils 13-10 through five games. Alexandre Grenier and Blake Coleman are tied for the series lead with four points apiece.
Scouting the Devils: Albany comes in with a .574 points percentage, good for second place in the North Division. The Devils are coming off a 3-2 defeat to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Saturday night. Offensively, the Devils are lead by rookies John Quenneville and Blake Coleman with 37 and 33 points, respectively. Ken Appleby leads the goalies with a 14-11-0 record, a 2.45 GAA and a .906 save percentage.
Red Hot: Borna Rendulic, Cody Kunyk, and Evan McEneny have been on fire offensively as of late. Rendulic (three goals, one assist) and Kunyk (two goals, five assists) hold four-game point streaks, while McEneny (one goal, three assists) carries a three-game point streak into today’s contest.
SHOTS!: Utica has been shooting the puck at a high rate throughout the month of February. The Comets are outshooting opponents 284-224 through eight games this month. In those eight games, the Comets have failed to put at least 30 shots on net only once. This includes a season-high, 47 shots last night.
Snaping the Slump: With a goal last night against Lehigh Valley, Alexandre Grenier snapped an eight-game goalless skid, his longest of the season. The forward is tied with Darren Archibald for the team lead in goals with 15.
In Check: The Comets have been fairly successful against Albany so far this season. That is party due to the fact that the Comets have not allowed more than three goals per game against the Devils this season. Albany won both occurrences, 3-2 in regulation on October 22 and 3-2 in overtime on December 14.
Next Game: The Comets return to action Wednesday night against the Rochester Americans. Puck drop from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHL Live.