COMETS LOOK TO SPLIT SERIES WITH CHECKERS
Nov 10, 2017UTICA COMETS (5-5-1) vs. CHARLOTTE CHECKERS (9-3-0)
Adirondack Bank Center, 7 p.m.
Watch Live: AHL Live | Listen Live: 94.9 K-ROCK, Desktop or Mobile
Follow and Interact Live: Twitter | Hashtag: #CHAvsUTI
Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets take on the Charlotte Checkers. Puck drop at the Adirondack Bank Center is at seven o’clock.
Last Game: The Utica Comets fell the to the Charlotte Checkers by a score of 5-2 Wednesday night at the Adirondack Bank Center. Andrew Miller gave Charlotte an early 1-0 lead, sneaking around the Comets defense and putting a shot behind Richard Bachman. Nikolay Goldobin tied the game six minutes later, burying a loose puck in front. Carter Bancks and Jaime Sifers tallied the assists on Goldobin’s sixth goal of the year. Valentin Zykov regained the one-goal lead for Charlotte at the 15:43 mark of the first period on the power play.. Dennis Robertson made it 3-1 just two minutes later, coming down from the point and firing a shot past Bachman. Wallmark extended the Checkers’ lead to 4-1 50 seconds into the middle frame with an unassisted goal. Zack MacEwen brought the Comets back to within two, burying his own rebound with 15 seconds left in the second period. Joseph LaBate and Michael Chaput picked up the assists. The Comets attempted a comeback but were unable to break through Jeremy Smith. Warren Foegele scored an empty-net goal to seal the victory. Bachman finished with 19 saves.
Head-to-Head: Charlotte leads the season and all-time series 2-1-0 and won the most recent contest by a score of 5-2 Wednesday night at the Adirondack Bank Center.
Scouting the Checkers: The Checkers come in with a record of 9-3-0, sitting in second place in the Atlantic Division. Lucas Wallmark leads the offense with 15 points, followed by Valentin Zykov with 13 points. Alex Nedeljkovic is the leading goaltender with a 6-0-0 record, 2.35 goals against average, and a .916 save percentage.
Power Outage: The Comets’ power play has struggled of late after starting the season on fire. After going 11-34 through the first seven games, the Comets are just 2-24 on the man advantage.
Heating Up: Nikolay Goldobin and Michael Chaput have been carrying the Comets’ offense as of late. Goldobin holds a three-game point streak coming into tonight’s contest and Chaput has points in five of the last six games overall.
Closing in on 300: Philip Holm is approaching a career milestone. Holm is closing in on professional game number 300. The Swedish defenseman spent seven seasons in Sweden prior to coming overseas.
Streak Snapper: Carter Bancks finally broke through his five-game pointless skid with an assist Wednesday night. Bancks started the year on a five-game point streak before his recent skid. The forward has tallied one goal and six assists total this season.
Next Game: The Comets return to action Wednesday night as they hit the road to take on the Laval Rocket. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHL Live.