AHL Utica Comets

Gameday: Comets vs. Rochester

Published on April 16, 2014 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release


ROCHESTER AMERICANS (35-27-6-5) @ UTICA COMETS (33-31-5-4)

Utica Memorial Auditorium, 7pm

Radio: 94.9 K-Rock

Tonight's Game: The Rochester Americans visit the Mohawk Valley for the final time this season for a Wednesday evening tilt at The AUD. The Comets currently sit four points out of the final playoff position in the Western Conference with three games to play.

When They Last Met: The Utica Comets defeated the Rochester Americans 2-1 Saturday night in front of a sold out Utica Memorial Auditorium, avenging a 7-3 loss the previous night in Rochester. The Comets recorded goals from Nicklas Jensen and Brandon DeFazio, while netminder Joacim Eriksson made 31 saves on 32 shots to earn his 14th victory of the season. Alex Biega, Yann Sauve and Kellan Lain each recorded assists for Utica, which moved to 19-23-3-4 with the victory.

Comets Outlook: The Utica Comets concluded their road regular season schedule with a 2-1 loss at the hands of the Adirondack Phantoms, Sunday afternoon at the Glens Falls Civic Center. With the loss, the Comets fall to four points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Pascal Pelletier scored the lone goal for the Comets, who slipped to 33-31-5-4 on the season. Cal O'Reilly extended his point streak away from The AUD to 10 games. Joacim Eriksson fell to 23-23-2-4 with 31 saves on 33 shots.

Americans Outlook: Rochester dropped a 2-1 decision to the Lake Erie Monsters via the shootout on Sunday afternoon. Nick Crawford scored the lone goal for Rochester, while Andrew Agozzino tallied for Lake Erie. The game reached the tenth shootout round, before Guillaume Desbiens scored the game winner. In his AHL debut, Mark Guggenberger made 41 saves on 42 shots in defeat, while Sami Aittokallio was victorious with 22 stops of his own.

Another Notch On The Pelt: Pascal Pelletier is now Utica's leading scorer in all major offensive categories, as he surpassed Benn Ferriero with his 20th goal of the season on Sunday. Pelletier has 60 points (20-40-60), which is 12th in the AHL. Pelletier's goal total is his highest since he scored 29 in 2008-09 with Rockford and his point total is his best since 2007-08, when he netted 75 (37-38-75) with Providence.

The Club Can't Even Brand-le Him Right Now: Brandon DeFazio once again had a memorable weekend, with a point in each of Utica's three contests. The Oakville, ONT native sparked a Comets rally on Thursday night with his second period tally and has helpers on both Friday and Sunday. DeFazio has shattered AHL career highs in goals (17), assists (17) and points (34).

One Goal Wonders: The Comets, courtesy of three one goal games this past weekend, are now tied for second in the AHL with 45 one goal games played this season. The Comets trail only Norfolk (46) for the league lead. Utica's 23 one-goal wins are also tied for second in the league, one behind Providence.

Hakuna Cannata: Netminder Joe Cannata has lost just two times over his past eleven appearances. The Wakefield, MA native has allowed more than two goals just once over that time span. Cannata has amassed a .937 save percentage over his run and has seen his number for the season rise to .905. The Merrimack College graduate's goals against average has also dropped to 2.87.

Scouting The Americans: The Americans are led offensively by center Phil Varone, who has career highs in goals (16) assists (42) and points (58) to lead Rochester in both the assist and point categories. Varone also averages an impressively similar .88 for both points per game and PIM's per game. Center Luke Adam, who has spent a decent chunk of the season in Buffalo, leads all Rochester players with 28 goals, which also ranks eighth in the AHL. Adam's .50 goals per game also ranks tied for fourth in the league amongst players with 55 or more games played.

The Americans' blueline saw reinforcements this week, with Buffalo's season coming to an end on Sunday. Defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen (6-12-18) and Mark Pysyk (1-11-12) were returned to Rochester for their stretch and playoff run.

Rochester is currently goaltending by committee, as injuries have ravaged the Buffalo organization in net. Regulars Matt Hackett and Nathan Lieuwen are both out with injuries, moving Connor Knapp and Andrey Makarov into the fray Makarov leads active netminders, with a .919 save percentage and a 2.49 goals against average.

Check out the Utica Comets Statistics

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