COMETS GO FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT WIN AGAINST BRIDGEPORT
Dec 1, 2017UTICA COMETS (9-9-1) vs. BRIDGEPORT SOUND TIGERS (11-7-1)
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: #BRIvsUTI
Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets take on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
Last Game: The Utica Comets defeated the Rochester Americans by a score of 2-1 in overtime Wednesday night at the Adirondack Bank Center. A back and forth first period went scoreless thanks to superb efforts from Thatcher Demko and Linus Ullmark, each stopping 10 shots apiece. Rochester netted the game’s first goal off the stick of Garret Ross five minutes into the second period. Conor Allen and Adam Krause had the assists. Jayson Megna tied the game with a shorthanded goal eight minutes into the final period. Patrick Wiercioch and Cam Darcy picked up the assists. Neither team could find the net in the final 12 minutes of regulation and the game would go to overtime. Reid Boucher netted the game-winning goal a minute and half into overtime. Darcy and Ashton Sautner tallied the assists. Demko finished with 29 saves and his record improves to 7-5-1.
Head-to-Head: This is the first meeting between the Comets and Sound Tigers this season. Utica won last year’s season series with a record of 3-1-0 and lead the all-time series 4-3-1.
Scouting the Sound Tigers: Bridgeport comes in with a record of 11-7-1 and sit in fourth place in the Atlantic Division. The Sound Tigers most recently defeated the Hershey Bears 3-2 in a shootout Sunday. Tanner Fritz leads the offense with 19 points, followed by Sebastian Aho with 13 points. Christopher Gibson is the leading goaltender with a record of 7-4-0, a 2.17 goals-against average, and .919% save percentage.
Navigating the Atlantic: Tonight’s game begins a stretch where four of the next five opponents are teams from the Atlantic Division. The Comets have only battled an Atlantic Division opponent five times this season, going 1-4-0 combined against Charlotte and Hartford.
Streaking: Reid Boucher continues to stay hot as he carries a four-game point streak into tonight. Boucher also has points in six out of his last seven games.
Stepping Up: The Comets penalty kill has been absolutely stellar lately. They have not allowed a power play goal in three straight games and have killed off 13 straight penalties overall. The Comets penalty kill sits seventh in the AHL at 84.9%.
Lockdown: A big factor throughout the Comets’ three-game win streak in the play of the defense and goaltending. The Comets have not allowed more than two goals in a game during the streak and only surrendered 30 shots on goal once. Goaltenders Thatcher Demko and Richard Bachman have combined for a 3-0-0 record, a 1.62 goals-against average, and a .949% save percentage during the streak as well.
Next Game: The Comets return to action tomorrow night for a rematch with the Sound Tigers. Puck drop from the Webster Bank Arena is at 7 p.m. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHL Live.