CanucksArmy Utica Comets Pre-Game: Game #42, Cleveland Monsters at Utica Comets

Game #42

Cleveland Monsters at Utica Comets

Saturday, January 18th, 2020

7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific

The 24-13-2-2 Utica Comets are back at it today as they will welcome the 18-19-1-2 Cleveland Monsters, (Columbus affiliate) to town for game 42 of the season at 7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific. The Comets are coming off of back-to-back wins over a very good Hartford club, while the Monsters last played to a 4-3 shootout win over a solid Rochester team.

Cleveland has gone 4-6-0-0 over their previous 10 games, while the Comets show a record of 6-3-1-0 over that same span. Utica now has as many wins at home as they do on the road, sporting a record of 12-8-2-1 at the Adirondack Bank Center, while Cleveland has gone 9-10-1-2 on the road this season.

The Comets have outscored their competition by a margin of 147-126, giving them a solid goal differential of plus-21. The Monsters, meanwhile, have been outscored by a count of 115-109, leaving them with a goal differential of minus-six.

The special teams battle will be an interesting one to watch today as the Comets have the better power play, while Cleveland is showing a better record while down a man. Utica has a record of 37/167 on the power play, giving them a success rate of 22.2% on the man advantage. Their penalty kill has allowed 31 goals while down a man 181 times, giving them a success rate of 82.9%.

The Monsters, for their part, have gone 23/172 on the power play, giving them a success rate of 13.4% while up a man. Their penalty kill has allowed 28 goals while down a man 175, giving them a success rate of 84.0%.

The Monsters are led in scoring by former Comets defender Adam Clendening, but he is up with the parent Blue Jackets at the moment. As such, their current leader amongst active players is Nathan Gerbe with his eight goals and 17 assists, giving him 25 points in 30 games. Stefan Matteau sits second with nine goals and 11 assists to give himself 20 points in 37 games, while Ryan MacInnis rounds out their top three with four goals and 13 assists, giving him 17 points in 30 games.

Andrew Peeke is the rookie leader in Cleveland with five goals and eight assists, giving him 13 points in 23 games this year. With Brogan Rafferty on the shelf with an injury, Olli Juolevi is the Comets current rookie leader with two goals and 16 assists, giving him 18 points in 32 games this year.

Reid Boucher is still the AHL kingpin with 22 goals and 23 assists to give himself 45 points in 36 games. With Rafferty out, Nikolay Goldobin slides into second place on the Utica scoring chart with 13 goals and 23 assists, giving him 36 points in 35 games, while Kole Lind rounds out the top three with 11 goals and 24 assists to give himself 35 points in 41 games this year.

This will be the first of four games between the two clubs this year.

The two clubs will get after it today in Utica at 7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific. As always, stay tuned for your CanucksArmy Post-Game report following today’s action.