CanucksArmy Utica Comets Pre-Game: Game #15, Utica Comets at Syracuse Crunch

Game #15

Utica Comets at Syracuse Crunch

Friday, November 15th, 2019

7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific

The 9-5-0-0 Utica Comets hit the road to Syracuse today to take on the 7-5-2-0 Crunch, (Tampa Bay affiliate) for game number 15 at 7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific.

The Comets last played to a 3-1 loss to the Crunch, while Syracuse is coming off of a 4-3 loss to the Rochester Americans. Syracuse has been outscored by a 47-45 margin, while the Comets have scored 46 goals and have given up 33.

The two clubs have similar records over their previous 10 contests as Utica has gone 5-5-0-0, while Syracuse shows a record of 5-4-1-0 over that same span.

The Comets power play has been weak this season, going 6/48 to give the team a success rate of 12.5% with the extra man. Their penalty kill has been better, shutting down 33 of 36 man advantage situations that they’ve given up for a success rate of 91.7%.

The Crunch, for their part, has gone 14/65 with the man advantage, giving them a success rate of 21.5%. Their penalty kill has allowed six goals while down a man 60 times for a success rate of 90.0%.

Alex Barre-Boulet leads all Syracuse scorers with seven goals and five helpers to give himself 12 points in 14 games this season, while Cameron Gaunce sits second with one goal and 11 assists, giving him 12 points in 13 games. Chris Mueller rounds out their top three with five goals and six helpers to give himself 11 points in 14 games.

Peter Abbandonato leads the Crunch rookie group with one goal and two assists in eight games this year, while Brogan Rafferty wears the rookie crown in Utica with his one goal and seven helpers through 14 games.

Reid Boucher sounds like he might be available for today’s game after missing the last five with a lower-body injury. Boucher leads the Comets attack with 10 goals and three helpers, giving him 13 points in nine games played. Nikolay Goldobin is next with three goals and 10 assists to give himself 13 points in 13 games for the Comets this year, while Kole Lind rounds out their top three with three goals and seven assists, giving him 10 points in 14 games.

The two clubs have squared off twice this season with each team coming away with a win. The Comets have the edge on the scoreboard, outscoring the Crunch 7-5.

Both teams have gone 1/10 with the man advantage in the series this season.

Nikolay Goldobin and Chris Mueller have each put up four points over the first two games, while the recently recalled Zack MacEwen has three. Boris Katchouk, Cory Conacher, Vincent Arseneau, and Brogan Rafferty have each recorded two points in the series.

Michael DiPietro has started both games against the Crunch and shows a 1-1 record with a 2.02 goals-against-average along with a 0.902% save percentage.

Spencer Martin and Scott Wedgewood have each started a game in the series. Wedgewood took the loss and shows a 6.02 GAA and a 0.842% save percentage for his efforts. Martin came away with a win while posting a 1.01 GAA and a save percentage of 0.957%.

The Comets have already seen Sven Baertschi called up and he is still with the big club, and they found out that they would also be without the services of Tyler Graovac and Zack MacEwen for the foreseeable future as they have both been summoned by the parent club.

They did receive some news on a player returning, however, as Jalen Chatfield has been sent back to Utica.

Graovac played last night for Vancouver, centring the fourth line between Loui Eriksson and Tim Schaller in the team’s 4-2 loss to Dallas. Graovac played a total of 5:31 in his Canucks debut while MacEwen sat that one out.

The two clubs will get underway today in Syracuse at 7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific. Stay tuned for your CanucksArmy post-game report following today’s action.