CanucksArmy Utica Comets Pre-Game: Game #50, Rochester Americans At Utica Comets

Game #50

Vs Rochester Americans

Saturday, February 9th, 2019

7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific

We are in for a North Division battle today as the division’s first-ranked Rochester Americans, (Buffalo affiliate) will take on their fourth-ranked Comets at 7:00 pm Eastern for game number 50 of the season. The Comets come into today’s game with a record of 25-19-3-2, giving them 55 points on the season. The Amerks, for their part, have gone 29-13-3-2 so far this season, giving them 63 points.

The Rochester power play is ranked seventh overall in the AHL after scoring 39 goals on 182 man-up opportunities, giving them a 21.4% success rate. Their penalty kill sits 11th overall after giving up 35 goals while down a man 196 times for a success rate of 82.1%.

The Comets power play sits 11th in the AHL after scoring 43 goals while up a man 219 times, giving them a 19.6% success rate. Their penalty kill sits 12th overall after giving up 36 goals while being shorthanded 200 times for an 82.0% success rate.

Victor Olofsson leads all Rochester players with 18 goals and 24 assists to give himself 42 points in 44 games. Zach Redmond sits second amongst active players with 19 goals and 20 assists, giving him 39 points in 41 games. Danny O’Regan rounds out their top three with 17 goals and 15 helpers, good for 32 points in 47 games.

Rasmus Asplund is the Amerks rookie leader with three goals and 15 helpers, giving him 18 points in 47 games. Jonathan Dahlen is the Comets top rookie with 12 goals and 12 assists, giving him 24 points in 45 games this year.

Reid Boucher is the top dog in Utica after scoring 20 goals and 23 assists to give himself 43 points in 37 games. Tanner Kero also has 43 points for the Comets in the form of 17 goals and 26 helpers in 47 games. Zack MacEwen rounds out Utica’s top three with 16 goals and 22 assists, giving him 38 points in 48 games.

Rochester shows a record of 7-0-1-2 over their previous 10 games, so the Comets will have their hands full with a team that is on a good run at the moment. Utica shows a record of 5-3-1-1 over that same span.

The Comets last played to a 5-2 win over Lehigh Valley, while the Amerks are coming off of a 7-1 win over Springfield that saw Olofsson pick up three goals and one assist. The Comets will probably want to keep an eye on that fella.

The Amerks also show a pretty solid road record coming into today’s game, going 14-4-3-1 while away from home this season. The Comets, for their part, have gone 13-10-1-0 at home this year. Utica has been outscored by a margin of 169-156 this season, while Rochester has scored 158 times while giving up 135 markers.

The two clubs have squared off six times already this year, with the Amerks holding a four-games-to-two advantage and outscoring the Comets 25-14 in the process.

The Amerks special teams have dominated this series as well, going 8/25 on the power play to give themselves a success rate of 32%. Their penalty killers have thwarted 82.1% of the Comets chances in the series, giving up five goals while down a man 28 times. The Comets power play has operated at 17.9% in the series, while their penalty killers have managed a 68.0% success rate.

Olofsson has been the big point producer in the series, picking up three goals and five helpers, giving him eight points in six games. CJ Smith is right behind him with seven points. Lawrence Pilut has played just twice in the series, but still has six points, all assists. Thankfully, the Comets will not have to contend with him today as he is currently plying his trade with the Buffalo Sabres.

Danny O’Regan his piled up five points in the series, as have Alex Nylander and Wayne Simpson. Zach Redmond, Rasmus Asplund, Reid Boucher and Tanner Kero have all put up four points, while Dahlen,  Darren Archibald, Cam Darcy, MacEwen, and Evan McEneny have picked up three points each in the series.

Scott Wedgewood has gone 2-0 in the series, posting a goals-against average of 0.50 and a save percentage of 0.978%. Jonas Johansson also shows a record of 2-0 this year against the Comets with a goals-against average of 1.93 and a save percentage of 0.938%. Adam Wilcox has played twice, losing both games while posting a goals-against average of 4.11 and a 0.860% save percentage.

For the Comets, Ivan Kulbakov has played one game in the series, losing in the shootout and posting a 1.85 goals-against average and a save percentage of 0.960%. Thatcher Demko has played twice in the series, going 1-1 while posting a goals-against average of 3.11 and a 0.902% save percentage. Richard Bachman has also played twice, going 1-2 while putting up a 4.67 goals-against average and a 0.861% save percentage.

This will be game two of a three-games-in-three-days weekend for the Comets with the action getting underway at 7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific. As always, stay tuned for the CanucksArmy Post-Game report following today’s action.