CanucksArmy Utica Comets Pre-Game: Game # 63, Utica Comets At Rochester Americans

Game #63
At Rochester Americans
Wednesday, March 13th, 2019
7:05 pm Eastern/4:05 pm Pacific

The North Division battles keep on coming as the division’s fifth-ranked Utica Comets hit the road to Rochester today to take on the first-ranked Americans, (Buffalo affiliate) for game number 63 of the season. The Comets show a record of 30-25-5-2 coming into today’s action, giving them 67 points on the season. The Amerks, for their part, have gone 38-18-3-2 this year, giving them 81 points for their efforts.

The Rochester power play is currently sitting fifth in the AHL after scoring 50 goals while up a man 233 times to give them a success rate of 21.5%. Their penalty kill sits 10th after giving up 46 goals while down a man 259 times for a success rate of 82.2%.

The Comets power play is sitting 14th in the league after scoring 52 goals while having the man advantage 272 times for a 19.1% success rate. Their penalty kill sits 24th…gulp…after giving up 50 goals while shorthanded 246 times for a 79.7% success rate.

Victor Olofsson leads all Rochester scorers with 23 goals and 28 helpers to give himself 51 points in 58 games. CJ Smith sits second with 21 goals and 27 assists to give himself 48 points in 48 games. Danny O’Regan rounds out their top three with the same 48 points but in 50 games.

Rasmus Asplund wears the rookie crown in Rochester with six goals and 23 assists, giving him 29 points in 61 games. Lukas Jasek is the rookie leader in Utica with eight goals and 13 helpers, giving him 21 points in 49 games.

Reid Boucher is the leader amongst Comets scorers with 27 goals and 28 assists to give himself 55 points in 48 games. Tanner Kero sits second with 21 goals and 28 helpers, giving him 49 points in 56 games. Zack MacEwen rounds out their top three with 20 goals and 27 assists to give himself 47 points in 55 games.

The Comets show a record of 3-6-1-0 over their previous 10 games, while the Amerks have gone 8-2-0-0 over that same span. The Amerks are coming off of a 6-1 win over the Binghamton Devils, while the Comets last played to a 5-3 loss to Laval. Utica shows a road record of 13-13-3-2 this year, while the Amerks have gone 19-12-0-1 at home.

The Comets have been outscored by a 213-192 margin this year, while the Amerks have outscored their competition by a count of 206-171.

Richard Bachman: G. Out for the season, Achilles’ injury.
Olli Juolevi: LD. Out for the season, knee surgery.
Evan McEneny: LD. Out for the season, lower-body injury.
Wacey Hamilton: F. Week-to-week, upper-body injury.
Reid Boucher: W. Week-to-week, upper-body injury.
Dylan Blujus: RD. Week-to-week, hand injury.
Stefan LeBlanc: LD. Day-to-day, dinged up.
Kyle Thomas: F. Healthy scratch.

The two clubs have squared off nine times already this season with the Americans holding a six-games-to-three advantage while outscoring the Comets by a 34-23 margin.

The Amerks also hold the edge in special teams work over the season series. Their power play has gone 13/36 to give them a success rate of 36.1%. Their penalty kill has allowed seven goals while down a man 39 times for a success rate of 82.1%. The Comets, for their part, show a success rate of 17.9% on the power play in the series, while their penalty kill has operated at 63.9%.

Victor Olofsson has been the big point producer in this series, picking up 12 points for his efforts along the way. Reid Boucher sits second with 10, while Wayne Simpson, CJ Smith, and Zack MacEwen have each picked up eight. Danny O’Regan, Zach Redmond, and Rasmus Asplund have each managed seven points in the series, while Lawrence Pilut has grabbed six. Alex Nylander, Matt Tennyson, Tanner Kero, and Evan McEneny have all put up five points so far in the series.

The Comets have used goaltenders Michael Leighton, Ivan Kulbakov, and Thatcher Demko in the season series, while the Amerks have used Scott Wedgewood, Jonas Johansson, and Adam Wilcox over the nine games.

Leighton shows a record of 1-1 with a goals-against average of 2.56 and a 0.915% save percentage. Kulbakov has lost both of his games, one in overtime and one in the shootout while putting up a 2.87 GAA and a 0.930% save percentage. Demko, for this part, has gone 1-1 while posting a GAA of 3.11 and a 0.902% save percentage.

For the Amerks, Scott Wedgewood has gone 4-0 while posting a sparkling 1.25 goals-against average and a save percentage of 0.947%. Jonas Johansson shows a record of 2-0 while putting up a GAA of 1.93 and a 0.938% save percentage. Adam Wilcox hasn’t had the best luck in the series, having gone 0-3 while posting a GAA of 4.09 and a 0.868% save percentage.

The two clubs will get underway today at 7:05 pm Eastern/4:05 pm Pacific in Rochester. As always, stay tuned for the CanucksArmy post-game report following today’s action.