COMETS BATTLE DEVILS IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE
Apr 15, 2018UTICA COMETS (37-26-12) vs. BINGHAMTON DEVILS (25-38-12)
Adirondack Bank Center, 3 p.m.
Watch Live: AHL Live | Listen Live: 94.9 K-ROCK
Follow and Interact Live: Twitter | Hashtag: #BNGvsUTI
Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets take on the Binghamton Devils in the regular season finale. Puck drop is at 3 p.m.
Last Game: The Utica Comets fell to the Belleville Senators by a score of 3-1 Saturday night at Yardmen Arena. Mike Blunden scored seven minutes into the game to take a 1-0 lead. Willie Corrin tied the game at one with 3:34 to go in the first, firing a backhander past Senators goaltender Marcus Hogberg. Ryan Scarfo made it 2-1 Senators with 6:48 to go in the second period. Jack Rodewald extended the lead to 3-1 at the 10:51 mark of the third period. Bachman finished with 24 saves and his record fell to 13-13-5.
Head-to-Head: This is the eighth and final meeting of the Comets and Devils this season. Utica leads the season series 5-2-0 and won the most recent matchup 4-3 on March 25. The Comets are outscoring the Devils 18-17 through seven games this year.
Scouting the Devils: Binghamton comes in with a record of 25-38-12 and sits in sixth place in the North Division. They most recently fell to the Hartford Wolf Pack 4-2 last night. Offensively, Jacob MacDonald leads the Devils with 55 points, followed by Nick Lappin with 52 points. Ken Appleby is the leading goaltender with a record of 10-13-2, a 2.77 goals-against average and .901 save percentage.
Just Killin’ It: The Comets penalty kill has been very good in the month of April. Utica has gone back-to-back games without surrendering a goal while down a man and has killed off 11 of their last 13 penalties. The Comets kill ranks second in the AHL at 85.5%.
Ice Cold: The Comets have been struggling to find the net as of late. After scoring three or more goals in five of six games from March 25 to April 7, Utica has not scored three or more goals in three straight games. The Comets are averaging 2.76 goals a game this season.
Home Cookin’: Patrick Wiercioch looks to remain one of the Comets’ top players on home ice this season. Wiercioch leads the active roster in assists (16) and points (22) at the Adirondack Bank Center this season. He is also fourth in goals at home. Overall, the veteran defenseman has 36 points (9-27-36) in 57 games.
Dominate the Devils: The Comets have fared well against New Jersey’s AHL affiliate recently. Including this year, Utica is 11-3-1 against the Devils and has outscored them 39-30 over the past two seasons. The Comets have also won five of their last six contests against the Devils.
Next Game: The Comets are back in action Saturday afternoon for Game One of the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs against the Toronto Marlies. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHL Live.