COMETS DUEL DEVILS IN SATURDAY SHOWDOWN
Dec 22, 2018UTICA COMETS (16-13-2-1) vs. BINGHAMTON DEVILS (13-16-3-0)
Adirondack Bank Center, 7 p.m.
Watch Live: AHLTV | Listen Live: 94.9 K-ROCK
Follow and Interact Live: Twitter | Hashtag: #BNGvsUTI
Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets faceoff against the Binghamton Devils. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
Last Game: Richard Bachman and Thatcher Demko combined for 37 saves on 38 shots and combined to help the Utica Comets to a 2-1 win over the Springfield Thunderbirds on Friday night at MassMutual Center. Darren Archibald and Brendan Gaunce scored for the Comets.
Head-to-Head: This is the fifth meeting between the North Division rivals this season. The teams have split the season series so far, with both the Comets and Devils winning two games. The Comets won the most recent contest 5-2 last Friday. Scoring has also been even, with each team scoring 15 goals through the first four games.
Scouting the Devils: Binghamton comes into tonight’s contest with a 13-15-3-0 record and sits in sixth place in the North Division. They most recently topped the Providence Bruins 6-3 last night. Marian Studenic leads the way offensively with 19 points, followed by Blake Pietila with 18 points. Cam Johnson leads the active goaltenders with a 4-5-0 record, a 3.95 goals-against average, and a .864 save percentage.
Exorcising Devils: Zack MacEwen, Lukas Jasek, and Reid Boucher have terrorized the Devils in this year’s season series. MacEwen and Jasek are averaging one point-per-game against Binghamton, while all four of Boucher’s points have been split between two games. MacEwen leads all players in the season series with three goals and carries a five-game point streak into tonight..
No Place Like Home: The Comets are on a roll at home. Utica has won five in a row on home ice and has scored three or more goals in all five games, including three straight games with five goals. The Comets are outscoring opponents 22-10 during this streak and are 7-7-0-0 overall at home this season.
Multi-point Master: Brendan Gaunce’s insane run continues. Gaunce tallied a goal and an assist last night for his second straight multi-point game. He now has five points (2-3-5) in his last two games. Four out of Gaunce’s last five games have been multi-point efforts as well. The forward has 15 points (8-7-15) in 16 games with the Comets this season.
Just Killin’ It: Part of the Comets strong play recently can be attributed to the penalty kill. Utica has killed off 14 straight penalties and 22 of their last 24 penalties overall. The Comets’ penalty kill ranks ninth in the AHL at 83.2%.
Next Game: The Comets are back in action Thursday, December 27 against the Devils. Puck drop at the Adirondack Bank Center is at 7 p.m. Fans are encouraged to use the ticket exchange site, StubHub!. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHL TV.