Game #16

Rochester Americans at Utica Comets

Saturday, November 16th, 2019

7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific

The 10-5-0-0 Utica Comets welcome the 9-3-1-2 Rochester Americans, (Buffalo affiliate) to town for game number 16 today at 7:00 pm Eastern/4:00 pm Pacific.

The Comets are fresh off the Reid Boucher show that saw them take down the Syracuse Crunch by a 5-2 margin, while the Amerks last played to a 3-2 overtime win over Cleveland. Rochester has outscored their competition by a count of 50-43, while the Comets have scored 51 goals and have given up just 35… the Comets netminders have been steady for the team this year.

The Amerks have been on a solid run over their previous 10 games, going 6-2-1-1, while the Comets show a record of 5-5-0-0 over that same span. Rochester shows a road record of 4-2-1-0 this season, while Utica has gone 5-4-0-0 at home.

The Amerks have had their share of power plays this year, going 8/70 with the extra man for a success rate of 11.4%. Their penalty kill has given up 14 goals while down a man 62 times for a success rate of 77.4%.

The Comets, for their part, finally have a better power play record than one of their opponents as they have gone 8/56 this year for a success rate of 14.3%. Their penalty kill has given up eight power-play goals while down a man 63 times for a success rate of 87.3%.

JS Dea leads all Rochester scorers with seven goals and five helpers to give himself 12 points in 15 games this year, while Tage Thompson sits second with six goals and six assists through 15 games. Curtis Lazar rounds out their top three with four goals and five assists, giving him nine points in 11 games.

Brett Murray leads the Amerks’ rookie crew with two goals and five assists to give himself seven points in 10 games. Brogan Rafferty is getting it done from the backend in Utica to lead their rookie group with one goal and eight assists, giving him nine points in 15 games.

Reid Boucher leads the Comets with 13 goals and three assists, giving him 16 points in 10 games played. Nikolay Goldobin sits second with three goals and 12 assists to give himself 15 points in 14 games, while Kole Lind rounds out the top three with his four goals and eight helpers to give himself 12 points in 15 games.

The two clubs have squared off in two games already this year with each team coming away with a win. Both teams have scored seven goals across the previous two contests.

The Amerks have gone 1/13 with the man advantage against Utica this year, while the Comets have gone 1/11.

Reid Boucher, Sven Baertschi, and Tage Thompson have each put up three points so far in the series, while Nikolay Goldobin, Olli Juolevi, Rasmus Asplund, Brett Murray, Remi Elie, Casey Fitzgerald, Casey Nelson, and Kevin Porter have all grabbed a pair.

Zane McIntyre got the start in both games against the Amerks this year but ended up getting the hook in his last outing against them. He shows a record of 1-1 with a 3.58 goals-against-average along with a 0.921% save percentage against the Amerks this year. Mikey DiPietro played just about 36 minutes in relief, posting a GAA of 3.34 along with a 0. 875% save percentage.

Andrew Hammond got the same treatment as McIntyre, starting both games but getting yanked in one of them. Hammond shows a record of 1-1 against the Comets this year with a GAA of 3.73 along with a 0.879% save percentage. Jonah Johansson played just 6:43 in the series and did not allow a goal.

With Seamus Malone leaving yesterday’s game with an injury, the Comets have summoned Tanner Sorenson from Kalamazoo.

The two clubs will get underway 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.