COMETS HOST CRUNCH ON MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY
Nov 11, 2019UTICA COMETS (9-4-0-0) vs. SYRACUSE CRUNCH (6-4-2-0)
Adirondack Bank Center, 3 p.m.
Watch Live: AHLTV | Listen Live: 94.9 K-ROCK
Follow and Interact Live: Twitter | Hashtag: #SYRvsUTI
Today’s Game: The Utica Comets face off with the Syracuse Crunch in Game Two of the Galaxy Cup series on Military Appreciation Day. Puck drop is at 3 p.m.
Last Game: The Utica Comets erased a two-goal deficit in the third period and came from behind for a 3-2 overtime over the Binghamton Devils on Saturday night at Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. Stefan LeBlanc, Tyler Graovac, and Zack MacEwen all scored for Utica. Michael DiPietro stopped 28 of 30 shots in the victory.
Head to Head: This is the second meeting between the Comets and Crunch this season. Utica won the lone contest 6-2 back on October 16. Nikolay Goldobin leads all scorers with three points in the season series. The Comets are 13-8-1-2 at home against the Crunch in the past five seasons.
Scouting the Crunch: Syracuse comes in with a record of 6-4-2-0 and sits in sixth place in the North Division. They most recently lost to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 2-0 Saturday night. Alex Barre-Boulet and Cameron Gaunce lead the way on offense with 10 points apiece. Scott Wedgewood is the top netminder with a record of 3-1-1, a 3.33 goals-against average, and a .881 save percentage.
Crush the Crunch: The Comets have played well against the Crunch at home recently. Dating back to last season, Utica has won five of their last six games at home against Syracuse. The Comets are outscoring the Crunch 25-18 during that stretch.
Going Cold: The Comets have struggled to find the back of the net so far in November. After lighting up October with 39 goals through eight games, Utica has only scored six goals in five games in so far in November and have been shutout twice. The team is trending positively after scoring three goals and putting up 35 shots on goal in Saturday’s win.
Blue Line Offense: The Comets defense has been a big part of their offense so far this season. Five different Comets defenseman have scored at least one goal, while seven of the nine defensemen to have played at least one game have recorded a point. The blue liners are lead by Brogan Rafferty (1-6-7) and Olli Juolevi (0-5-5).
Just Getting Started: It was only a matter of time before Tyler Graovac broke through. After a slow start to the season due to injury, the big forward finally got on the board with a goal in Saturday night’s win over Binghamton and created a number of scoring chances for his teammates as well. Graovac finished with 24 goals and 50 points last season with Stockton.
Next Game: The Comets return to action Friday night in a rematch against the Crunch. Puck drop in Syracuse is at 7 p.m. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHL TV.