COMETS BATTLE DIVISION-LEADING AMERKS
Dec 21, 2019UTICA COMETS (17-10-1-2) vs. ROCHESTER AMERICANS (19-5-2-2)
Blue Cross Arena, 7:05 p.m.
Watch Live: AHLTV | Listen Live: 94.9 K-ROCK
Follow and Interact Live: Twitter | Hashtag: #UTIvsROC
Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets battle the Rochester Americans. Puck drop is at 7:05 p.m.
Last Game: Brogan Rafferty recorded a goal and two assists and the Comets went 3-8 on the power play en route to a 5-3 win over the Laval Rocket Friday night at the Adirondack Bank Center. Kole Lind, Justin Bailey, Sven Baertschi, and Nikolay Goldobin also scored for Utica. Zane McIntyre made 23 saves in the win.
Head-to-Head: This is the fourth matchup between the Comets and Americans this season. Rochester leads the season series 2-1-0-0 and won the most recent contest 4-3 back on November 16. The Amerks have outscored the comets 11-10 through three games.
Scouting the Americans: Rochester comes in with a record of 19-5-2-2 and sits in first place in the North Division. They most recently beat the Binghamton Devils 3-0 last night. Andrew Oglevie and J.S. Dea lead the offense with 19 points each. Andrew Hammond is the top goaltender with a record of 10-3-2, a 2.21 goals-against average, and a .916 save percentage.
Going Streaking: Reid Boucher’s career-long point streak continues to roll on. Boucher extended his streak to 12 games with a pair of assists in last night’s win. He has compiled 18 points (7-11-18) during his streak as well. Boucher leads the league in points and goals with 36 points (20-16-36) in 25 games.
Hot Kole: Kole Lind has been on fire lately. Lind has scored in back-to-back games and has five goals in his last six games and also has three multi-point games during that stretch. The second year forward has 25 points (9-16-25) in 30 games this year.
Rack ‘Em Up: Brogan Rafferty continues to pile up points. Rafferty has recorded back-to-back multi-point games as has 11 points in (2-9-11) in his last six games. He also has three three-point games during this stretch. The rookie leads the league in points and assists by a defenseman with 27 points (4-23-27) in 30 games this season.
High Powered: Can anyone slow down the Comets power play? Utica has gone 5-15 in their last two games on the man advantage and have score at least one power play goal in 16 of their last 17 games. The Comets power play ranks fourth in the AHL at 25.6%.
Next Game: The Comets return to the ice Friday, December 27 when they host the Hershey Bears. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. Tickets are still available at the Box Office, over the phone by calling (315) 790-9070, or online at www.empirestatetix.com. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHLTV.