AHL Utica Comets

Gameday: Comets at Hamilton

Published on November 10, 2013 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release


UTICA COMETS (1-8-1-1) @ HAMILTON BULLDOGS (5-4-0-3)

Copps Coliseum, 3 p.m.

Radio: 94.9 K-Rock

The Utica Comets are in Hamilton, Ontario for the final of three straight games away from home, as they do battle with the Hamilton Bulldogs. Utica is coming off of its first victory of the season on Friday night against Lake Erie, where they defeated the Monsters 3-2, to split the second of a back-to-back set. Puck drop is set for 3:00 p.m. this afternoon at Copps Coliseum.

When They Last Met: The Comets dropped a narrow 3-2 decision to the Bulldogs on Oct. 26 at The AUD. Defensemen Peter Andersson and Henrik Tommernes each scored third period goals as the Comets attempted a ferocious comeback, but ultimately came up just short as Bulldogs netminder Dustin Tokarski made 31 saves for the victory.

Comets Outlook: The Comets finally moved into the win column Friday night as Colin Stuart's goal with less than three minutes to play gave Utica a 3-2 lead that they would not relinquish against the Monsters. Alex Mallet and Patrick Mullen scored first period goals for Utica, while Joacim Eriksson recorded 22 saves on 24 shots for the win. The victory ended a 10 game winless streak to begin the season and moved the Comets to four points in the standings.

Bulldogs Outlook: After they defeated Utica, Hamilton has gone just 1-3-0-1 in their last five games. The Bulldogs have dropped their last three meetings, including a 6-1 decision against the defending league champions, the Grand Rapids Griffins. Sven Andrighetto scored the only Hamilton goal as Robert Mayer was pulled midway through the second period after he surrendered five goals. The Griffins scored four times over a 73 second span in the second period which ultimately sealed Hamilton's fate.

Better Late Than Never: The Comets were able to end the losing drought with their 3-2 win over Lake Erie on Friday night. The victory was the first for a Utica AHL franchise since Apr. 9, 1993, when the Utica Devils defeated the Baltimore Skipjacks, a mere 7,518 days ago.

Captain Clutch: Colin Stuart once again wrote his name in the Utica Comets history books as the winger recorded the first game-winning goal in Comets history. Already the first captain in team history and the scorer of the team's first powerplay goal, Stuart now adds a third mark to his already impressive list. The Minnesota native now has three points (3-0-3) over nine games.

G.I. Joacim: Comets goaltender Joacim Eriksson also set a milestone as he was in net for Utica's first victory on Friday. In addition to the first win in team history, Eriksson's victory was also the first of his AHL career. The 23 year old had spent the last five seasons playing professionally in his native Sweden.

More Milestones: Forward Alex Mallet was the most recent Comet to score his first career AHL goal as he beat Pickard midway through the first period. David Booth also added his first Comet point with an assist on Patrick Mullen's powerplay goal.

Zach Attack: With his helper on Colin Stuart's game winning goal, Comets center Zach Hamill has now recorded five points over his last five games. This marks the sixth straight AHL season that Hamill has scored five points over a five game span.

Sticking Together: Hamilton head coach Sylvain Lefebvre, his two assistants, Donald Dufresne and Stephan Lebeau and his goaltending consultant Vincent Riendeau were all teammates on the 1987-88 Sherbrooke Canadiens, the Montreal Canadiens AHL affiliate at the time.

Scouting The Bulldogs: Andrighetto is the team leader in points as he enters tonight's action with nine (5-4-9) over 12 games played. The winger's five goals are tied for first on the Bulldogs, while his +6 rating is tops on the team. Amidst callups to Montreal, forwards Louis Leblanc and Martin St. Pierre have each skated in nine games and picked up eight (5-3-8) and seven (1-6-7) points respectively.

Magnus Nyrgen has led the offensive effort from the blueline, as the Karlstad, Sweden man has amassed eight points (1-7-8) over 12 games. Nygren's eight points are tied for 16th amongst all defensemen in the AHL. The Bulldogs will be without Greg Pateryn, who was recently recalled by the Canadiens. Pateryn had put up seven points (3-4-7) over seven games played.

Dustin Tokarski has led the way in net for the Bulldogs, as the 24 year old has a 4-1-1 record and leads Hamilton with a .912 save percentage and a 2.43 goals against average. Robert Mayer has been solid in a reserve role as well as the Czech Republic native enters at 1-3-2, with a .902 save percentage and a 3.00 GAA.

Check out the Utica Comets Statistics

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