COMETS CLOSE OUT SAVE OF THE DAY WEEK AGAINST CLEVELAND
Jan 18, 2020UTICA COMETS (24-13-2-2) vs. CLEVELAND MONSTERS (18-19-1-2)
Adirondack Bank Center, 7 p.m.
Watch Live: AHLTV | Listen Live: 94.9 K-ROCK
Follow and Interact Live: Twitter | Hashtag: #CLEvsUTI
Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets wrap up Save of the Day Week against the Cleveland Monsters. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
Last Game: Justin Bailey recorded his second straight and third hat trick in four games as the Comets topped the Hartford Wolf Pack 6-3 Friday night at the Adirondack Bank Center. Olli Juolevi, Kole Lind, and Carter Camper also added goals for Utica. Zane McIntyre made five saves on seven shots before being replaced by Michael DiPietro, who made 20 saves to earn the win.
Head-to-Head: This is the first of four contests between the Comets and Monsters this season. Utica took last year’s season series, going 3-1-0-0 against the Cleveland. The Comets outscored the Monsters 19-11 last season.
Scouting the Monsters: Cleveland comes in with a record of 18-19-1-2 and sits in seventh place in the North Division. They most recently beat the Rochester Americans 4-3 in a shootout last night. Adam Clendening leads the active roster with 29 points, followed by Stefan Matteau with 20 points. Veini Vehvilainen is the leading goaltender with a record of 9-10-1, a 2.25 goals-against average, and a .917 save percentage.
Red Hot: Justin Bailey cannot be stopped. Bailey has recorded hat tricks in two consecutive games and in three of his last four. He is the first AHL player since 2011 to record back-to-back hat tricks since 2011. Overall, the forward has 34 points (22-12-34) in 40 games this year.
Rolling: The Comets’ offense has been on a roll lately. Utica has scored six goals in back-to-back games and five or more goals in three of their last four games. The Comets have outscored opponents 17-14 in the last four games.
Sophomore Surge: Kole Lind continues to make a big leap in his second season. Lind has seven points (1-6-7) in his last six games, including a three-point game last night. He also has 10 multi-point games this season. The forward has 35 points (11-24-35) in 41 games this season.
As Good As Gold: Nikolay Goldobin has been quietly racking up points. Goldobin has four points (1-3-4) in his last two games eight points (2-6-8) in his last five games with three multi-point efforts during that stretch. The forward has 36 points (13-23-36) in 35 games.
Next Game: The Comets return to the ice Monday afternoon against the Syracuse Crunch. Puck drop at Upstate Medical University Arena is at 1 p.m. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHLTV.