Utica Comets Pre-Game
Game #18
Utica Comets at Laval Rocket
7:30 pm Eastern/4:30 pm Pacific
The 10-6-1-0 Utica Comes hit the road to Laval to take on the 10-6-3-0 Rocket for game number 18 of the season today at 7:30 pm Eastern/4:30 pm Pacific. The Rocket are coming off of a 2-1 overtime loss to the Toronto Marlies, while the Comes last played to a 5-4 overtime loss to Binghamton.
The Comets have outscored their competition by a count of 58-44 this season, while Laval has scored 52 times and has given up 49.
Utica has had good luck on the road this season, showing a record of 5-1-0-0 away from the Adirondack Bank Center while Laval shows a home record of 6-4-1-0 this year.
Laval shows the better special teams play between the two clubs so far this season as their power play has gone15/82 for a success rate of 18.3%, while their penalty kill has allowed six goals while down a man 76 times for a 92.1% success rate.
The Comets power play has gone 10/62 this season for a 16.1% success rate, while their penalty kill has allowed nine goals while down a man 73 times for a success rate of 87.7%.
Alex Belzile leads the Rocket attack with six goals and six helpers, giving him 12 points in 19 games. Lukas Vejdemo sits second with identical totals, while Charles Hudon rounds out their top three with nine goals and two helpers to give himself 11 points in 17 games.
Ryan Poehling is the rookie leader for the Rocket with three goals and two helpers, giving him five points in 17 games. Brogan Rafferty leads all Comets rookies with two goals and nine assists to give himself 11 points in 17 games.
Reid Boucher wears the scoring crown in Utica with 13 goals and five helpers, giving him 18 points in 12 games this year, while Nikolay Goldobin sits second with five goals and 12 helpers, giving him 17 points in 16 games. Kole Lind rounds out their top three with three goals and nine assists to give himself 12 points in 17 contests.
Season Series
This will be the first game of the season between the two clubs, but they will be back in action again tomorrow.
Scratched Last Game For Utica
- Jonah Gadjovich: LW/RW – Upper-body injury, day-to-day. NHL deal.
- Olli Juolevi: LD – Lower-body injury, no timeframe. NHL deal.
- Seamus Malone: W/C – Upper-body injury, no timeframe. AHL deal.
- Richard Bachman: G – Healthy scratch. NHL deal.
- Stefan LeBlanc: LD – Healthy scratch. AHL deal.
- Mitch Eliot: RD – Healthy scratch. NHL deal.
- Tanner Sorenson: F – Healthy scratch. AHL deal.
The two clubs will get underway in Laval today at 7:30 pm Eastern/4:30 pm Pacific. As always, stay tuned for your CanucksArmy post-game report. Your post-game reports will be slightly abbreviated this weekend as my little sister is in town and I haven’t seen her for a decade or so.