COMETS LOOK TO BREAK LOSING SKID AGAINST DEVILS
Mar 4, 2018UTICA COMETS (29-19-10) vs. BINGHAMTON DEVILS (18-30-9)
Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena, 5:05 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 do battle with the Binghamton Devils. Puck drop at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena is at 5:05 p.m.
Last Game: The Utica Comets fell to the Hershey Bears by a score of 3-0 Saturday night at the Giant Center. . Aaron Ness scored the first goal of the game with 12:25 remaining in the second period to take a 1-0 lead. Chris Bourque extended the lead to 2-0 seven minutes later. Zach Sill made it 3-0 with 5:53 to go in the third period. Demko finished with 27 saves and his record falls to 19-10-6.
Head-to-Head: This is the sixth time the Comets and Devils have faced off this season. Utica leads the season series 4-1-0 and won the most recent contest 3-1 on February 16. The Comets are outscoring the Devils 12-7 through five games this year.
Scouting the Devils: Binghamton comes in with a record of 18-30-9 and sits in last place in the North Division. They most recently fell 4-0 to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms last night. Jacob MacDonald leads the offense with 40 points, followed by Bracken Kearns with 38 points. Ken Appleby leads the goaltending tandem with a record of 9-12-2, a 2.78 goals-against average, and a .898% save percentage.
Ice Cold: Utica is struggling a bit coming into this evening’s contest. The Comets have lost five straight games since their 16-game point streak ended. In addition, they have not scored a goal in 147:10 of game time. That could change tonight as the Comets have scored at least three goals against Binghamton in three straight games against their rival.
Power Outage: The Comets have not scored a power play goal in seven straight games. However, tonight’s game may offer a reprieve. Utica is 5-20 (25%) on the man advantage against the Devils. The Comets’ power play ranks sixth in the league at 19.1%.
Strong Kill: One bright spot for the Comets recently has been their penalty kill. Utica has gone four consecutive games without surrendering a goal while down a man and has killed off 18 straight penalties. The Comets kill is third in the AHL at 86%.
Home Away From Home: Despite last night’s loss, the Comets have been a good team on the road over the last month. Utica has won five of their last six games away from home and has points in 12 of the last 13 road games. Overall, the Comets are 17-6-4 away from the Adirondack Bank Center this season.
Next Game: The Comets are back in action Friday, March 9 as they host the Springfield Thunderbirds. Puck drop at the Adirondack Bank Center is at 7 p.m. Fans are encouraged to utilize the ticket exchange website, StubHub!. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHL Live.