CanucksArmy Utica Comets Pre-Game: Game #8 – Binghamton Devils at Utica Comets

Game #8

Binghamton Devils at Utica Comets

Wednesday, October 30th, 2019

7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific

The Utica Comets will try to wrap up October with a perfect 8-0-0-0 record and can do so with a win over the 3-4-2-0 Devils from Binghamton, (New Jersey affiliate) today at 7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific.

Bingo last played to a 3-2 overtime win over the Toronto Marlies, while the Comets are coming off of a 2-1 shootout victory over the Hershey Bears.

The Devils have gone 1-3-1-0 on the road this season, while the Comets home record is a sparkling 4-0-0-0 so far this year. Binghamton has the better power play of the two squads as they’ve gone 6/31 with the extra man for a success rate of 19.4%. Their penalty kill has given up five goals while down a man 27 times for a success rate of 81.5% on the season.

The Comets, for their part, have gone just 4/25 on the power play, giving them a paltry success rate of 16.0% with the extra man. Their penalty kill has been far better, giving up just two goals while down a man 29 times for a success rate of 93.1%.

Chris Conner leads all Devils scorers with five goals and five helpers to give himself 10 points through nine games this year. Brett Seney is up next with identical totals, while Ben Street rounds out their top three with three goals and six helpers, giving him nine points in nine games.

Mikhail Maltsev leads the Bingo rookie crew with one assist through four games, while the Comets’ rookies are paced by Brogan Rafferty and Olli Juolevi with four points each through seven games.

Reid Boucher leads the Comets with nine goals and three assists to give himself 12 points in seven games. Nikolay Goldobin sits second with one goal and nine helpers, giving him 10 points in six contests, while Sven Baertschi has picked up two goals and seven assists, giving him nine points in six games played.

The Devils have been outscored by a margin of 31-24 this season, while the Comets have scored 36 goals while giving up just 13. The Comets lead the league in both categories.

The Comets have been getting some outstanding goaltending from their duo of Zane McIntyre and his rookie apprentice Mikey DiPietro. McIntyre has gone 4/0 this year while posting a goals-against-average of 1.98 and a 0.941% save percentage. DiPietro, for his part, has gone 3/0 while posting a 1.62 GAA along with a 0.940% save percentage.

The two clubs have squared off twice this year and the Comets have come away with a pair of wins while outscoring the Devils 9-4 in the process. Neither team has fared well on the power play, but the Comets lead the series with one goal on seven opportunities with the extra man, while Utica has killed off all four penalties that they’ve given up.

Kole Lind and Reid Boucher are tied with four points each to lead the season series, while Francis Perron and Carter Bancks are right behind them with three apiece. Vincent Arseneau, Carter Camper, Olli Juolevi, Nathan Bastian, Michael McLeod, and Chris Conner have all been credited with two points each in the series.

The Comets saw more roster movement this week an Oscar Fantenberg has been sent down to Utica by Vancouver for a conditioning stint, while Ashton Sautner has been yo-yoed back up to Vancouver to take his place. Rookie defender Mitch Eliot is also back in Utica after a two-game sojourn to Kalamazoo to get some minutes.

Sautner has played in four games for Utica this year, picking up one assist for his efforts, while Eliot has gotten into three games with the Kalamazoo Wings this year, going pointless. Fantenberg has yet to suit up for the Canucks as he’s been nursing an injury, but the left-shot defender has played in 25 career AHL games, all with the Ontario Reign in the 2017/18 season, where he collected one goal and 12 assists to go along with eight minutes spent in the box.

The Comets and Devils will get underway at 7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific. Will the Comets remain unbeaten for the month of October, or will the Devils be the first team to beat them, like they were with the Toronto Marlies? Stay tuned for your CanucksArmy Post-Game Report following today’s action to find out.