Gameday: Comets at Rockford
February 9, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release
UTICA COMETS (18-22-2-4) @ ROCKFORD ICEHOGS (23-21-4-2)
BMO Harris Bank Center, 5 pm
Radio: 94.9 K-Rock
Tonight's Game: The Comets are rolling and have won five of their past six on the road as they travel to Rockford to take on the IceHogs in their final game before the AHL All-Star Break. Tonight's game is Utica's fourth straight away from home and the final match-up of their Midwestern road swing.
When They Last Met: The Comets dropped a nailbiting 2-1 decision against Rockford last Saturday at The AUD. Pascal Pelletier scored Utica's lone goal just 28 seconds into the game and Joacim Eriksson took the loss, despite 28 saves on 30 shots. Kent Simpson was the star of the evening with 34 saves on 35 shots for Rockford, while Pat Mullane and Brandon Mashinter each scored for the IceHogs.
Comets Outlook: Utica moved to 2-1 on their road trip with a 3-0 blanking of the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday evening. Joacim Erikson picked up his fourth shutout of the season with a 21 save effort between the pipes for the Comets. Darren Archibald (2-0-2) and Alex Biega (0-2-2) paced the Comets offensively with two points apiece and Kent Huskins also found the back of the net with his first goal of the season. Marek Mazanec took the loss for Milwaukee with 28 saves on 31 shots.
IceHogs Outlook: Rockford tied a season high with a six goal offensive output as they defeated the Hamilton Bulldogs 6-4 at BMO Harris Bank Center. Mark McNeil paced Rockford with three points (1-2-3), while Brandon Mashinter (2-0-2), Alex Broadhurst (1-1-2), Terry Broadhurst (1-1-2), Adam Clendining (0-2-2) and Klas Dahlback (0-2-2) each contributed multi-point games. Sven Andrighetto led the way for Hamilton with a goal and three assists.
Into Thin Eriksson: Utica netminder Joacim Eriksson vaulted his way to the top of the AHL leaderboards with his fourth shutout of the season on Friday in Milwaukee. Eriksson is now tied with four other goaltenders for the league lead. The Galve, Sweden native is 13-12-1-2 on the season with a .916 save percentage, which ranks eighth in the league amongst goalies with more than 25 games played, and a 2.48 goals against average.
Double Dog Darren: Utica winger Darren Archibald contributed the first two goal game of the season against the Admirals on Friday. Archibald now has five multi-point games this season, a career high. The Newmarket, ON native now has 18 points (9-9-18) as a Comet, fourth most amongst active players and four shy of his single season high set in 2012-13 with the Chicago Wolves.
From Husk Til Dawn: Defenseman Kent Huskins found the back of the net for the first time as a Comet on Friday against Milwaukee. Huskins scored for the first time in the AHL since Feb. 23, 2007 as a member of the Portland Pirates, his final AHL contest before being recalled to Anaheim en route to a Stanley Cup championship. The 6'4" blueliner has collected three points (1-2-3) and has posted a +2 rating over 36 games with Utica this season.
Meant To Biega: Defenseman Alex Biega followed up his shootout game winner against Iowa with two assists against the Admirals on Friday. The multi-point game was the ninth of his three plus year professional career. The Harvard University graduate now leads all Utica defensemen with 11 assists, which also ranks fourth on the overall roster amongst active players.
Road Warriors: The Comets have picked up points in seven of their past nine contests away from home and have improved their record to 10-10-1-1 on the road after they lost four straight to open the season. Utica is also one of just two teams in the Western Conference, along with Toronto, to have more wins on the road (10) than at home (8).
Scouting The IceHogs: Wingers Terry Broadhurst (8-17-25) and Jeremy Morin (11-14-25), and center Joakim Nordstrom (13-12-25) lead all Rockford forwards with 25 points apiece. Nordstrom and Brad Winchester top the roster with 13 goals each while Nordstrom is also the team leader in plus minus with a +8 rating.
AHL All-Star and Rockford defenseman Adam Clendening leads all scorers with 33 points (6-27-33) over 47 games played.
Rockford has employed five goaltenders this season, with Jason LaBarbara and Kent Simpson currently on the roster. LaBarbara leads all IceHog netminders with a .923 save percentage and a 2.54 goals against average, while Simpson leads the way with eight wins.
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