Comets Visit BMO Tonight in Clash of West's Best
January 24, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rockford IceHogs News Release
Rockford, Ill. - The stage is set for what has become one of the most highly-anticipated games of the season. The American Hockey League's Rockford IceHogs (24-13-4-2) welcome the Utica Comets (24-10-5-1) to the BMO Harris Bank Center on Saturday night, in a meeting of two of the league's top teams.
In addition to the game, Rockford celebrating its sixth-annual Pink At The Rink Night, presented by Swedish American Hospital. The ice surface at the BMO will be pink, as will the specialty jerseys the IceHogs will wear - jerseys that will be available through a blind silent auction in section 122 throughout the night. All proceeds benefit the Mary Kay and Swedish American Foundations.
Additionally, the first 2,500 fans will receive a free foam LED stick, courtesy of Swedish American Hospital.
Fans can catch Saturday's contest, which is sold-out, by tuning into 23.2 Antenna TV or logging on to AHLLive.com. Television coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. with the IceHogs Warm Up pregame show.
Rockford and Utica converge while occupying two of the top three positions in the Western Conference standings. The Midwest Division-leading IceHogs and the North-pacing Comets are tied for second-best spot in the conference with 54 points. The clubs meet at the BMO for the first of only two times this season, with the finale taking place in Central New York in late March.
The IceHogs head into the Western showdown after surviving a scare in their last outing, provided by John Curry and the Iowa Wild. Rockford eked out a 1-0 victory in Des Moines, a margin that could have been wider if it wasn't for a 41-save performance from the Iowa goaltender. Curry and IceHogs netminder Michael Leighton kept the game scoreless until Matt Carey delivered the game-winning goal with less than seven minutes left in regulation.
With his 23-save effort Leighton picked up his fourth shutout of the season and the 40th of his AHL career. The 13-year professional now is just one shutout shy of tying Gil Mayer (1949-63) for second place on the league's all-time shutout list.
The resurgent Rockford club has been playing well as of late, taking points in seven of their last nine contests. However, their lead atop the Midwest has dwindled to just a single point, thanks to the second-place Milwaukee Admirals' current nine-game winning streak.
For the Comets, the BMO is the final stop in what has proven to be a difficult week-long swing through the Midwest. After starting with a 3-2 overtime loss in Milwaukee on Wednesday, Utica was handed a 5-1 loss last night in Michigan by the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Comets head into Rockford ready to end a three-game winless streak, their longest of the campaign.
In a similar formula as the IceHogs, the Vancouver Canucks affiliate has capitalized on balanced scoring and outstanding goaltending to make their home near the top of the Western Conference since the season began. 15 different skaters have tallied over 10 points for the Comets, including AHL All-Stars Cal O'Reilly (4g-26a) and Bobby Sanguinetti (8g-12a).
Even with their depth up front, a major reason for Utica's dominant first half has been the play of Jacob Markstrom in net. The Florida Panther draft pick has compiled a 12-3-2 record, while ranking near the top of the league in save percentage (1st, .935), goals-against average (2nd, 1.86) and shutouts (T-2nd, 4).
Markstrom will join O'Reilly and Sanguinetti - as well as IceHogs T.J. Brennan and Mark McNeill - in heading back to Utica for the AHL All-Star Classic this weekend at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. The festivities kick off with the Skills Competition on Sunday night before the All-Star Game on Monday.
Next Home Game: Friday, Jan. 30 vs. Chicago. Puck drops at 7 p.m. The IceHogs kick off another Illinois Lottery Cup home-and-home series when they host the Wolves at the BMO Harris Bank center. The first 2,500 fans will receive a free IceHogs phone cover, courtesy of BMO Harris Bank.
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