COMETS OPEN ADIRONDACK BANK CENTER WITH MATCHUP AGAINST AMERKS
Nov 1, 2017UTICA COMETS (4-3-0) vs. ROCHESTER AMERICANS (4-4-1)
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: #RCHvsUTI
Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets take on the Rochester Americans in the Comets’ home opener at the Adirondack Bank Center. Puck drops at seven o’clock.
Last Game: The Utica Comets defeated the Charlotte Checkers by a score of 6-3 Sunday afternoon. Nikolay Goldobin found the back of the net a minute and a half into the game. Mike Ferrantino tied the game four minutes later. Clark Bishop had the only assist on the play. Reid Boucher made it 2-1 Comets with under seven minutes to go in the opening frame. Evan McEneny extended the Comets’ lead with 37 seconds remaining in the period. Halfway through the second period, Zack MacEwen scored his first career goal to give the Comets a 4-1 lead. Gaunce put the Comets up 5-1 just five minutes later. Brendan Woods tallied his first goal as a Comet to put Utica up 6-1 with 12:30 remaining in the third period. Andrew Poturalski and Julien Gauthier scored late to make it 6-3. Thatcher Demko finished with 31 saves.
Head-to-Head: The Comets lead the season series 2-0-0, beating Rochester 2-0 and 5-1 on October 13 and October 21 respectively. The Comets lead the all time series 22-15-1.
Scouting the Americans: The Amerks come in with a 4-4-1 record, most recently falling 3-2 to the Syracuse Crunch this past Saturday. Kyle Criscuolo and C.J. Smith lead the offense with six points apiece. Linus Ullmark is the leading goaltender with a 3-3-0 record, a 2.77 GAA, and a .916% save percentage.
Batten Down the Thatch: Thatcher Demko has been a brick wall to start the season. Demko has dominated Rochester in the first tow meetings, only allowing one goal on 74 shots. The second year goaltender holds a 4-1-0 record with a 1.61 GAA and a .950% save percentage.
Special Teams Dominance: The Comets’ special teams have been on fire to start the year. Utica has the AHL’s top power play with a 32.4% conversion rate and the penalty kill is third in the league at 89.5%. The man down unit has also killed off 22 of their last 23 penalties.
Multi-Point Masters: Nikolay Goldobin and Reid Boucher continue to rack up points through the first seven games. Both players have tallied three multi-point efforts. Goldobin leads the team with 10 points, followed by Boucher with nine points.
First of Many: In just his second professional game, Zack MacEwen scored his first career goal Sunday at Charlotte. The forward scored 116 points in 141 games in the QMJHL between the Moncton Wildcats and Gatineau Olympiques.
Next Game: The Comets are back in action Friday night as they battle the Binghamton Devils. Puck drops at 7 p.m. Fans are encouraged to utilize the ticket exchange website, StubHub!. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHL Live.
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