CanucksArmy Utica Comets Pre-Game: Game #51, At Bridgeport Sound Tigers

Game #51

At Bridgeport Sound Tigers

Sunday, February 10th, 2019

3:00 pm Eastern/12:00 noon Pacific

The North Division’s fourth-place Utica Comets will square off against the Atlantic division’s second-place Bridgeport Sound Tigers, (New York Islanders affiliate) today at noon Pacific for game number 51 of the season. The Comets have a record of 26-19-3-2 coming into today’s game, giving them 57 points on the season. The Sound Tigers, for their part, have gone 27-18-4-2 this year to give themselves 60 points in the standings.

The Comets have the AHL’s 11th ranked power play after scoring 44 goals while up a man 223 times for a success rate of 19.7%. Their penalty kill is sitting 14th after giving up 37 goals while down a man 203 times for an 81.8% success rate.

Bridgeport has the league’s 21st ranked power play, going 41/239 with the extra man for a 17.2% success rate. Their penalty kill sits 12th after giving up 43 goals while shorthanded 237 times for an 81.9% success rate.

Chris Bourque leads all point getters in Bridgeport with 10 goals and 28 helpers to give himself 38 points in 49 games. Otto Koivula sits second with 14 goals and 21 assists, giving him 35 points in 47 games, while defender Sebastian Aho rounds out their top three with four goals and 26 helpers, giving him 30 points in 42 games.

Koivula’s 35 points have him sitting atop the rookie heap in Bridgeport, while Jonathan Dahlen tops all Comets rookies with 13 goals and 12 assists, giving him 25 points in 46 games.

Reid Boucher is the top dog in Utica, putting up 23 goals and 24 assists to give himself 47 points in 38 games this year. Tanner Kero sits second with 17 goals and 26 helpers, giving him 43 points in 48 games. Zack MacEwen rounds out their top three with 17 goals and 25 helpers to give himself 42 points in 49 games.

MacEwen and Boucher each finished yesterday’s contest with four points.

The Comets have gone 6-2-1-1 over their previous 10 games, while Bridgeport shows a record of 5-5-0-0 over that same span. The Sound Tigers last played to a 4-2 win over Providence, while the Comets are coming off of a 5-2 win over Rochester.

Bridgeport has had good luck at home this year, showing a record of 15-5-2-1, while the Comets have gone 12-9-2-2 on the road.

The Comets have been outscored by their competition by a 171-161 margin this year, while Bridgeport has scored 155 times and have given up 157 goals.

The two clubs have faced off once this season, back on January 11th with the Sound Tigers skating away with a 4-3 overtime win in Utica.

Bridgeport had the better of the special teams in that one, going 2/7 on the power play for a 28.6% success rate while killing off five of six penalties for a success rate of 83.3%. The Comets show a success rate of 16.7% on the power play and 71.4% on the penalty kill in the series.

Zack MacEwen, Evan McEneny, Tanner Fritz, and Josh Ho-Sang each put up two points in their first game of the series, while Wacey Hamilton, Tom Pyatt, Jonathan Dahlen, Brendan Gaunce, Chris Casto, Yannick Rathgeb, Parker Wotherspoon, Steve Bernier, Chris Bourque, Travis St.Denis, and Mitch Vande Sompel have all tallied one point.

Ivan Kulbakov was the Comets goalie of record last time out, taking the overtime loss while posting a 3.73 goals-against average and a save percentage of 0.871%. Jeremy Smith was the man in between the pipes for Bridgeport, posting a 2.81 goals-against average and a save percentage of 0.912%.

The two clubs will get underway today at noon Pacific. As always, stay tuned for the CanucksArmy post-game report following today’s game.