COMETS HEAD SOUTH FOR DUEL WITH DEVILS
Dec 8, 2018UTICA COMETS (11-13-1-1) vs. BINGHAMTON DEVILS (10-12-3-0)
Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena, 7:05 p.m.
Watch Live: AHLTV | Listen Live: 94.9 K-ROCK
Follow and Interact Live: Twitter | Hashtag: #UTIvsBNG
Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets do battle with the Binghamton Devils. Puck drop is at 7:05 p.m.
Last Game: Jonathan Dahlen scored twice as the Comets scored four unanswered goals to topple the Springfield Thunderbirds 5-2 Friday night at the Adirondack Bank Center. Carter Bancks, Jesse Graham, and Tanner Kero also scored for Utica and Thatcher Demko made 23 saves to pick up his 50th career win, making him the first goalie in Comets history to earn 50 wins with the team.
Head-to-Head: This is the third meeting between Utica and Binghamton this year. The Devils lead the season series 2-0-0-0 and won the most recent contest 4-2 last Wednesday. The Comets have been outscored 9-3 through two games.
Scouting the Devils: Binghamton comes in with a record of 10-12-3-0 and sits in sixth place in the North Division. They most recently fell to the Syracuse Crunch 5-0 last night. Marian Studenic leads the way offensively with 17 points, followed by Nick Lappin and Blake Pietila with 15 points. Mackenzie Blackwood is the top netminder with a 5-5-1 record, a 2.42 goals-against average, and a .921 save percentage.
Red Hot: Evan McEneny’s torrid run continues. McEneny is riding a three-game point streak coming into tonight, registering five points (1-4-5) in those three games. Additionally, he has 10 points in his last 11 games. The defenseman has 11 (2-9-11) points in 24 games this season.
Power Surge: The Comets power play remains hot. Utica is 5-16 in the last three games on the man advantage, including a 3-6 performance a week ago. The Comets power play ranks fourth in the AHL at 24%.
Offensive Explosion: Utica offense is coming alive. The Comets have scored 12 goals in their last three games after being held to only two goals in each of the previous two games. Including those games, the Comets have scored five goals twice off the sticks of eight different skaters.
Rolling: Tanner Kero and Zack MacEwen will look to keep their dominant seasons going tonight. Kero has five points in his last four games and seven points in his last seven games, including two multi-point games. MacEwen has points in six of his last seven games. Kero leads the Comets with 21 points (9-12-21) and MacEwen has 19 points in 26 games this year.
Next Game: The Comets return to the ice Wednesday night when the Providence Bruins come to town. Puck drop at the Adirondack Bank Center is at 7 p.m. Fans are encouraged to use the ticket exchange site, StubHub!. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHL TV.