COMETS AND PENGUINS CLASH TONIGHT
Feb 24, 2017UTICA COMETS (21-23-9) vs. WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS (37-14-3)
The Utica Memorial Auditorium, 7:00 p.m.
Watch Live: AHL Live | Listen Live: 94.9 K-ROCK, Desktop or Mobile
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Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the second time this season. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
Last Game: The Comets fell to the Rochester Americans by a score of 3-2 in overtime on Wednesday night. Cody Kunyk gave the Comets an early 1-0 lead, tipping a shot from Jordan Subban. Five seconds later, Hudson Fasching tied the game when the puck took an odd bounce off the end glass and caught Richard Bachman out of the net. Vaclav Karabacek gave Rochester a 2-1 lead midway through the second period. Five minutes into the third period, Mike Zalewski would tie the game from Andrey Pedan and Evan McEneny. Neither team could find the net in the final 15 minutes and the game would head to overtime. Just 24 seconds into the extra period, Cal O’Reilly netted the game winning goal. Bachman finished with 23 saves and his record falls to 12-11-4.
Head-to-Head: The Penguins won the only meeting of the two teams this season, a 3-2 victory on January 27 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. The Comets are 3-4-1 against the Penguins all time.
Scouting the Penguins: The Penguins sit atop the Atlantic Division with a .713 points percentage, but have lost three in a row, most recently falling 3-2 to the Providence Bruins on Sunday. Tom Kostopoulos leads the active roster with 42 points, followed by David Warsofsky with 38 points. Tristan Jerry leads the goaltenders with a 22-10-1 record, a 2.27 GAA, and a .921 save percentage.
Rolling Along: Evan McEneny continues his strong play as of late. McEneny extended his point streak to five games with an assist in Wednesday’s night. The defenseman has picked up 11 of his 17 points in the last 15 games.
Finding His Place: After an early stint in the ECHL with Alaska, Cody Kunyk has evolved into another offensive weapon for the Comets. Kunyk has racked up seven points in the last six games and tied his career high with 26 points. The forward has also set a personal record in assists with 17 and needs one more goal to tie his career best of 10 goals.
Durable Darren: Darren Archibald continues his ironman streak this season, playing in all 53 games so far. As a result, Archibald is enjoying a record setting season, achieving new career highs in goals (16), assists (17), and points (33).
Climbing the Ranks: The Comets penalty kill continues its progression back to the top 15 in the league. The unit has killed off 11 consecutive penalties, and 28 of the last 33 total. The penalty kill sits at 81.4%, good for 17th in the AHL.
Next Game: The Comets will be back in action tomorrow night as they hit the road to take on the Binghamton Senators. Puck drop from the Floyd L. Maines Veteran’s Memorial Arena is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHL Live.