CanucksArmy Utica Comets Pre-Game: Game #44, Binghamton Devils at Utica Comets

Game #44

Binghamton Devils at Utca Comets

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020

7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific

The 25-14-2-2 Utica Comets are back in action today as they host the 17-19-4-0 Binghamton Devils, (New Jersey affiliate) for game number 44 of the season today at 7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific.

It is also the big boss’s birthday today as Utica Comets President Robert Esche turns 42 today. Happy Birthday, Robert! Word on the street is that Comets play-by-play voice Joe Roberts became a father for the first time yesterday as well, so congrats are in order for the Roberts clan on a big day!

The Comets are currently tied for first place in the North Division with the Belleville Senators with 54 points, while the Devils are holding down the eighth spot in the same division with 38 points. We have seen these games end up being trap games for the Comets where they end up playing down to the level of their opponents, so let’s hope that isn’t the case today.

The Devils have been hot of late, going 8-2-0-0 over their previous 10 games, while the Comets show a record of 6-4-0-0 over that same span. Both clubs are coming off of losses to their division rival Syracuse Crunch, so they have that in common today.

Binghamton hasn’t been great on the road this year, showing a record of 5-13-1-0 away from home. The Comets, for their part, have gone 13-8-2-1 at home this season.

Things are night and day when it comes to goal differential between for the clubs as the Comets have outscored their competition by a margin of 155-132, giving them a goal differential of plus-23. The Devils, meanwhile, have been outscored by a count of 133-114 for a goal differential of minus-19.

When it comes to special teams, the Comets have the edge in both departments, showing a record of 39/175 on the power play, giving them a success rate of 22.3% with the extra man. They have gone 32/189 while down a man, giving them a success rate of 83.1% on the penalty kill.

The Devils, for their part, show a record of 22/156 on the power play, giving them a 17.9% success rate with the extra man, while their penalty kill has allowed 24 goals while down a man 128 times this year for a success rate of 81.3%.

Ben Street leads all Binghamton scorers with 13 goals and 20 assists, giving him 33 points in 33 games this year. Brett Seney sits second with 14 goals and 18 assists to give himself 32 points in 39 games, while Joey Anderson rounds out their top three with his 12 goals and 19 assists, giving him 31 points in 39 games.

Fabian Zetterlund leads the Devils’ rookie class with seven goals and seven helpers, giving him 14 points in 30 games this year. With Brogan Rafferty on the shelf with undisclosed soreness, Olli Juolevi takes a temporary hold of the Comets rookie lead with two goals and 19 assists to give himself 21 points in 34 games this year.

Reid Boucher is the AHL’s top dog with 24 goals and 25 assists, giving him 49 points in 38 games. He will very likely be heading home with 50 or more points by the time today’s game wraps up. Nikolay Goldobin sits second with 14 goals and 26 assists to give himself 40 points in 37 games this year. Second-year-pro Kole Lind rounds out Utica’s top three with 12 goals and 25 helpers to give himself 37 points in 43 games. Kole is the lone Comets player to suit up for every game this year.

The two clubs have already squared off in seven games this year with the Comets showing an edge of four-games-to-three in the series and outscoring the Devils by a count of 22-21 in the process.

Ben Street has been the most productive player in the series with nine points for his efforts, while Reid Boucher sits second with seven. Joey Anderson, Brogan Rafferty, and Francis Perron have each put up six points over the first seven games… it would sure be nice for the Comets to get a guy like Perron back in the lineup today.

Brett Seney, Carter Bancks, and Kole Lind have put up five points apiece, while Chris Connor, Nathan Bastian, Vincent Arseneau, and Nikolay Goldobin have each provided four points for their respective clubs.

Both teams have seen three different netminders in action over the seven games with the Comets using Mikey DiPietro, Zane McIntyre, and Richard Bachman, while Gilles Senn, Louis Domingue, and Evan Cormier have suited up for Bingo.

McIntyre shows a record of 3-1-0 against the Devils this year while posting a goals-against-average of 2.02 along with a 0.929% save percentage. Mikey DiPietro has gone 1-0-1 against Binghamton while putting up a GAA of 3.30 along with a 0.894% save percentage. Richard Bachman, for his part, took a loos while posting a 5.00 GAA along with a 0.878% save percentage.

For Bingo, Senn saw two games of action and came away with wins in both, while posting a 2.41 GAA and a 0.915% save percentage. Domingue shows a record of 1-0-1 while putting up a GAA of 2.46 along with a 0. 906% save percentage. Evan Cormier checks in with three losses in three games while posting a 3.77 GAA and a save percentage of 0.885%.

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.