RIVALRY WEEKEND BEGINS AS COMETS HOST DEVILS
Dec 15, 2017UTICA COMETS (10-10-4) vs. BINGHAMTON DEVILS (8-13-4)
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: #BNGvsUTI
Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets do battle with the Binghamton Devils. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
Last Game: The Utica Comets were defeated by the Rochester Americans 3-1 Wednesday night at Blue Cross Arena. Michael Carcone put the Comets up 1-0 just 1:27 into the game by somehow squeezing a shot through the pads of Linus Ullmark. Wacey Hamilton and Cole Cassels tallied the assists. Steve Moses fired a one-timer past Thatcher Demko to tie the game at one with 2:27 to go in the opening frame. Sahir Gill and Casey Nelson had the assists. Stuart Percy gave the Amerks their first lead of the game at the 6:50 mark of the second period. C.J. Smith and Nick Baptiste were credited with the assists. Smith extended the lead to 3-1 with a power play goal. Seth Griffith and Zach Redmond collected the assists. Demko finished with 31 saves and his record falls to 8-6-3.
Head-to-Head: This is the second matchup between the Comets and Devils this year. Binghamton took the first meeting 2-1 on November 3. The Comets are 8-12-3 all time against the Devils franchise.
Scouting the Devils: Binghamton comes in with a record of 8-13-4 and sit in last place in the North Division. The Devils most recently fell to the Belleville Senators 4-3 in a shootout Wednesday night. Jacob MacDonald is the leading scorer with 22 points, followed by Spencer Abbot with 20 points. Mackenzie Blackwood leads the goaltending tandem with a record of 4-8-3, a 3.65 goals-against average, and .890% save percentage.
Point To Home: The Comets kick off a four-game homestand with tonight’s game. That bodes well for Cam Darcy, Jayson Megna and Patrick Wiercioch. Megna (1-2-3) carries a three-game home point streak into tonight’s game. Darcy (0-4-4) and Wiercioch (3-2-5) are riding four-game point streaks at the Adirondack Bank Center.
Not So Friendly Confines: The Comets overall have not fared well at the Adirondack Bank Center so far this season. Utica is 3-6-2 at home this year and has yet to win consecutive games on home ice this season.
Back On Track: The Comets power play is starting to find its groove once again. Utica has scored on the man advantage in two of the last three games and rank ninth in the league with an 18.5% conversion rate.
Ice Cold: Since their six-goal outburst on December 1, the Comets offense has gone cold. Utica has only scored more than three goals once in five games since then. The Comets have only won one game in that five game stretch.
Next Game: The Comets return to action tomorrow night against the Rochester Americans. Puck drop at the Adirondack Bank Center is scheduled for 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.