COMETS HOST ROCHESTER FRIDAY NIGHT
Feb 18, 2022The Comets Previous Game: The Comets took to ice against their divisional opponent, the Toronto Marlies, and in their third matchup between the two clubs the home team Marlies took advantage of a good start and the Comets skated away with a 6-2 defeat.
In the first period, the home team started off the scoring and they did it on the powerplay. While the Comets were shorthanded, Marlies forward Nick Ritchie fired a wrist shot just inside the left post and into the cage behind goaltender Akira Schmid at 12:34. Later, the Marlies did it again on the man-advantage and it was Alex Steeves shot that sailed over the blocker of Schmid and into the net at 17:53. When the first period ended, the Comets were down 2-0.
In the middle frame, the Comets got on the board when Fabian Zetterlund blasted a one-timer on a lovely pass by defenseman Robbie Russo past Marlies goalie Erik Kallgren at 1:24. But, the Comets allowed the subsequent two goals after a tally by Joseph Blandisi on a deflection of a Nick Robertson shot at 3:12 was followed by a breakaway goal from Jack Kopacka at 4:23. At the end of the second, Utica was down 4-1.
In the final period of regulation, the Marlies added another goal but so did the Comets when rookie sensation Alex Holtz struck for his 17 of the season on a pass from Chase DeLeo that Holtz sent over the catching glove of Kallgren and into the net. The game ended with a 6-2 defeat.
Comets Leading Scorers: The team’s leading scorer heading into the weekend is Fabian Zetterlund who has registered 18 goals and 19 assists for 37 points in 37 games played. Following him is Chase DeLeo with 10 goals and 26 assists for 26 points in 28 games played. Reilly Walsh leads all d-men in scoring with six goals and 26 assists for 32 points in 41 games. Alex Holtz is the team’s leading rookie scorer with 17 goals and 16 assists for 33 points in 28 games. Tyler Wotherspoon leads the team in plus/minus with a +21 rating but is off the represent Team Canada at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. Holtz is currently on an eight-game point streak scoring six goals and five assists in that time. He has goals in four straight games heading into tonight’s contest versus Rochester.
The Standings: The Comets remain atop the North Division with 42 games played and 28 victories. Holding a record of 28-9-5 gives Utica 61 points which is nine points ahead of the next team, the Rochester Americans who have 50 points on the season. The Americans have played two fewer games that Utica as of today. The Comets winning percentage of .726 ranks them second in the league In their last 10 games played, the Comets are 5-4-1.