SAVE OF THE DAY NIGHT VERSUS CRUNCH
Jan 28, 2017UTICA COMETS (18-17-7) vs. SYRACUSE CRUNCH (21-12-9)
Utica Memorial Auditorium, 7:00 p.m.
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Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets battle the Syracuse Crunch in game seven of the Galaxy Cup series. Puck drop between the North Division rivals is at 7 o’clock.
Last Game: The Penguins struck with two goals in the first period. The teams played a scoreless second period and 1:23 into the third frame, Alexandre Grenier struck for the Comets. He fired a slap shot for his 14th of the year with assists from Curtis Valk and Colby Robak. The goal was scored on the power play. Over three minutes later, the Penguins regained the two-goal lead. With Richard Bachman pulled for the extra attacker, Evan McEneny scored on a one-timer to bring the game to a 3-2 score. The assists were credited to Valk and Grenier. Bachman remained pulled but the Comets couldn't tally another goal. Bachman finished with 27 saves.
Head-to-Head: The Comets lead the season series 4-1-1. The Comets won the most recent meeting between the two rivals, a 4-0 victory on January 21. Alexandre Grenier leads all scorers with seven points in the series. The Comets have outscored the Crunch 17-11 through six games. All-time the Comets are 15-7-4 against the Crunch.
Scouting the Crunch: The team is coming off back-to-back wins, most recently a 4-3 win against the Springfield Thunderbirds where the Crunch allowed three third period goals. Defenseman Matt Taormina is leading the Crunch offensively with 37 points. Adam Wilcox leads in goaltender statistics with a 15-6-3 record, a 2.59 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.
Defending the Fort: The Comets are undefeated at home against the Crunch this year. Both wins came as 2-1 victories on November 23 and January 11.
Century Mark: Alexandre Grenier tallied his 100th career assist in the AHL last night. All of his 164 point have been totaled with Comet over a duration of 248 games played.
Back to Thatch: Goaltender Thatcher Demko will make his first start tonight since January 11 in a 2-1 home win against the Syracuse Crunch. In That game, the netminder made 30 saves. Prior to tonight, Richard Bachman started seven straight games.
0 to 100: Utica will play the team’s final game before the All-Star break tonight. Including those three days off, The Comets will play two games in the next 12 days. Following that stretch, however, the Comets will play 10 games in 16 days.
Next Game: The Comets will be back in action Friday February 3 as they hit the road to take on the Hartford Wolfpack. Puck drop from XL Center is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHL Live.