Game #53

Utica Comets at Rochester Americans

Sunday, February 16th, 2020

3:05 pm Eastern/12:05 pm Pacific

The 28-19-3-2 Utica Comets hit the road to Rochester to take on the 28-17-2-4 Americans, (Buffalo affiliate) for game number 53 of the season today at 3:05 pm Eastern/12:05 pm Pacific. This is yet another battle for the Comets playoff hopes, as will be pretty much every game the rest of the way unless the Comets go on a heater as they did in October, or one or more of the teams they are battling with goes on a losing skid.

The Comets are now sitting third in the North by both points and winning percentage with 61 points in 52 games and are coming off of a 3-2 loss to division rival Syracuse. The Amerks are coming off of a 4-3 shootout win over the Crunch, putting them into second in the North with 62 points in 51 games.

As I mentioned above, Syracuse and Rochester went to the shootout, meaning both teams earned at least a point while the Comets sat idle. Meanwhile, the Sens and Marlies went toe-to-toe in a battle that saw the Marlies charge back from a 5-2 deficit to come away with a 7-6 shootout win. Once again, two teams in the Comets’ division grabbed points while they were waiting to play today’s game.

Binghamton also picked up a win for two points in their favour, but at least Cleveland took one on the chin in a 4-1 loss to keep them from adding to the Comets issues.

The two clubs’ records over their previous 10 games are nearly flipped as the Comets show a record of 3-6-1-0, while the Amerks have gone 6-4-0-0 over that same span. Utica has gone 13-9-1-1 on the road this season, while the Amerks sport a record of 13-5-1-4 on home ice this year.

Both clubs have outscored their competition this season with the Comets showing a goal differential of plus-18. The Americans, for their part, show a plus-10 for their season’s efforts.

As is often the case, special teams could very likely determine the outcome of this game. There’s some good news and some bad news for the Comets on this front. The good news is that overall, their power play is better than Rochester’s, going 47/212 to give themselves a success rate of 22.2% with the extra man. The Amerks’ power play is a meagre 33/200 overall, giving them a success rate of 16.5%.

Rochester has had slightly better luck with the extra man at home, going 18/92 to give themselves a success rate of 19.6%. On the road, the Comets have gone 21/96, giving them a 21.9% success rate.

The Comets penalty kill has had an up and down campaign and has allowed 44 goals while down a man 223 times this year for an 80.3% success rate overall. On the road, however, things have been bleak on the kill where the team has allowed 24 goals while down a man 101 times for a 76.2% success rate.

Rochester has allowed 33 goals while down a man 183 times this year for an overall success rate of 82.5%. At home, they’ve allowed 16 goals while shorthanded 89 times, giving them an 82.0% success rate.

The Comets might need to find a way to win this one at five-on-five.

JS Dea leads all Rochester scorers with 14 goals and 18 assists to give himself 32 points in 46 games this season, while Zach Redmond sits second with five goals and 23 assists, giving him 28 points in 48 games. Andrew Oglevie rounds out their top three with 13 goals and 12 helpers, giving him 25 points in 44 games.

Brett Murray is the Amerks rookie leader with nine goals and nine assists in 28 games, while Brogan Rafferty leads the rookie charge in Utica with six goals and 33 assists, giving him 39 points in 48 games this year.

Reid Boucher is Utica’s top dog with 28 goals and the same number of assists to give himself 56 points in 45 games. Nikolay Goldobin sits second with 18 goals and 27 helpers, giving him 45 points in 45 games, while Kole Lind and his big brother Justin Bailey are knotted with 40 points each, although Bailey has his in seven fewer games.

The two clubs have squared off five times this year with Utica winning three of the games and showing a 17-15 edge on the scoreboard.

Sven Baertschi and Reid Boucher have feasted on the Amerks with seven points each in the series, while Brogan Rafferty, Justin Bailey, Taylor Leier, Brett Murray, and Kevin Porter have four apiece. Eight other players have three points each.

Jonas Johansson and Andrew Hammond have tended the net for Rochester over the first five games of the series, while Richard Bachman, Zane McIntyre, and Mikey DiPietro have all seen time for the Comets.

As we know, Richard Bachman has been loaned to a team in Sweden and will not be available today. Neither will Hammond or Johansson as far as I can tell. Hammond has played all but 6:43 for Rochester in this series and has gone 2-3-0 for his efforts while posting a 3.53 goals-against-average along with a save percentage of 0.869%.

DiPietro has seen very little time against the Amerks… just 35:53 to be exact when he allowed two goals for a 3.34 GAA and a 0.875% save percentage. McIntyre shows a record of 2-2-0 while putting up a GAA of 3.29 along with a save percentage of 0.908%. Bacher, for his part, won his only game against the Amerks this year.

Getting back to special teams for a moment, the Comets have been better in this series, even if only by a little. Utica has gone 4/22 on the PP against Rochester this year while shutting down 24 of 29 opportunities that they have given up,

Josh Teves has been summoned from Kalamazoo after picking up two points in two games with the Comets ECHL affiliate, including his first pro goal. Congrats, Josh.

The two clubs will get after it in Rochester today at 3:05 pm Eastern/12:05 pm Pacific. As always, stay tuned for your CanucksArmy post-game report following today’s action.