COMETS SEEK THIRD STRAIGHT WIN AGAINST ROCHESTER
Oct 21, 2017UTICA COMETS (2-2-0) vs. ROCHESTER AMERICANS (2-2-0)
Blue Cross Arena, 7:05 p.m.
Watch Live: AHL Live | Listen Live: 94.9 K-ROCK, Desktop or Mobile
Follow and Interact Live: Twitter | Hashtag: #UTIvsRCH
Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets take on the Rochester Americans for the second times this season. Puck drops at 7:05 p.m.
Last Game: The Utica Comets defeated the Syracuse Crunch 3-2 Saturday night at the Onondaga County War Memorial Arena. Nikolay Goldobin struck first for the Comets. Reid Boucher and Philip Holm tallied the assist. Cory Conacher tied the game up with under a minute to go in the first period. Holm regained the Comets’ lead with a power play strike with at the 12:41 mark of the middle frame. Carter Bancks and Goldobin tallied the assists on the only goal of the second period. Erik Cernak tied the game at two just less than four minutes into the third period. Mitchel Stephens and Daniel Walcott had the assists. Three minutes later, Michael Chaput put the Comets back up 3-2, tipping a shot from Evan McEneny on the power play. Holm also collected an assist on the play. The Comets outlasted the Crunch’s late flurry to secure the victory. Thatcher Demko finished with 24 saves.
Head-to-Head: The Comets took the only meeting of the two teams this season, winning 2-0 last Friday. The Comets lead the all-time series with a 21-15-1-0 record.
Scouting the Americans: The Amerks are coming off a 5-2 defeat to the Charlotte Checkers last night and are 2-2-0 on the year. C.J. Smith and Zach Redmond lead the way offensivley with three points each. Adam Wilcox leads the goaltending tandem with a 1-0-0 record with a 2.11 GAA and .929% save percentage.
On Fire: Carter Bancks, Reid Boucher, and Nikolay Goldobin have been red hot to start the year. All three players currently hold four-game point streaks coming into tonight’s contest, with Bancks tallying one goal and three assists, Boucher picking up zero goals and six assists, and Goldobin racking up three goals and two assists during that timespan. For Bancks, it is also the second longest point streak of his career.
Closing In: Speaking of Nikolay Goldobin, the forward is nearing a career milestone. Goldobin sits one point shy of his 100th AHL point. The Moscow, Russia native has compiled 46 goals and 53 assists in 122 AHL games.
Familiar Face: The Comets and Amerks are getting awfully familiar with each other to start the year. Including last weeks contest, the North Division rivals will play each other four times over three week span, and a total of five times within the two months of the season.
Power Surge: The Comets power play has gotten off to a fantastic start to the season. Through the first four games, the Comets are 5-21 (23.8%) on the man advantage, good for 10th in the league.
Next Game: The Comets are back in action tomorrow next Saturday on the road at the Charlotte Checkers. Puck drop from Bojangle’s Coliseum is at 6 p.m.The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHL Live.