COMETS WRAP UP THREE-GAME HOME STAND AGAINST CHARLOTTE
Oct 12, 2018UTICA COMETS (1-1-0-0) vs. CHARLOTTE CHECKERS (2-0-0-0)
Adirondack Bank Center, 7 p.m.
Watch Live: AHLTV | Listen Live: 94.9 K-ROCK
Follow and Interact Live: Twitter | Hashtag: #CHAvsUTI
Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets go head-to-head with the Charlotte Checkers for the first time this season. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
Last Game: The Comets topped the Belleville Senators 3-1 Saturday night at the Adirondack Bank Center. The Comets went down 1-0 early in the second period but reeled off three unanswered goals to pull off the win. Brendan Gaunce, Reid Boucher, and Darren Archibald all found the net for the Comets. Richard Bachman stopped 31 of 32 shots in the win.
Head-to-Head: This is the first meeting this season and fifth meeting overall between the Comets and Checkers. Charlotte won last year’s season series 3-1-0-0, outscoring Utica 18-11 in four games.
Scouting the Checkers: The Checkers come in with a 2-0-0-0 record after a weekend sweep of the Rochester Americans. Nicolas Roy leads the offense with six points, followed by Andrew Poturalski with five points. Alex Nedeljkovic started and won both games and holds a 2.00 goals-against average and .933 save percentage.
Special Teams Excellence: The Comets’ special teams units got off to a great start over the weekend. The power play when 3-7 through two games, including two goals within the first 30 seconds of the man advantage. The penalty kill allowed only one goal in eight attempts in the first two games, including a seven-minute kill in the third period Saturday night.
Leading By Example: Zack MacEwen continues to build on his strong rookie season. The second-year forward has picked up a goal and three assists through the first two games. MacEwen finished last season with 33 points (10-23-33) in 66 games.
Big Test Ahead: The Comets have a challenging weekend ahead of them. It is the first three-in-three set of the season starting with Charlotte tonight followed by a weekend series in Toronto. The Checkers scored at least four goals in each of their first two games while the Marlies have pumped in 15 goals in their first three games.
Navigating the Atlantic: Tonight’s contest marks the first matchup for the Comets against a team from the Atlantic Division this season. Utica will face off against the Atlantic in 22 of their 76 games this season. The Comets went 9-9-5-1 last year against teams from the Atlantic.
Next Game: The Comets hit the road to face the Toronto Marlies tomorrow afternoon. Puck drop at Ricoh Coliseum is at 4 p.m. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHLTV.