albany devils – CanucksBanter

Vancouver Canucks’ Jordan Subban (67) has his eye on the puck next to Edmonton Oilers’ Matt Benning (83) during first period 2016 NHL Young Stars Classic action at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, BC., September 16, 2016. NICK PROCAYLO / PNG

team_ahl_utica_commets

By Andrew Chernoff

Jan 5, 2017

The Utica Comets (10-15-5-1) are back in action on Friday, January 6 as they conclude a five-game homestand against North division rivals, the Albany Devils (20-13-0-1), hoping to snap their 9 consecutive game losing streak (0-4-4-1).

The Comets are presently in 7th and last place in the North Division of the American Hockey League, with 26 points; while, the Devils occupy 2nd place in the same division, with 41 points.

The Comets are one of five teams that do not have a home record above .500.

The team enters January where they only play five home games, three of which on the last week of the month.

LAST GAME

The Utica dropped a 6-3 decision to the Rochester Americans on Saturday, Dec 31 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

The Comets struck first with a goal from Alexandre Grenier on the power play eight minutes into the game. Rochester battled back with two goals in the first to take the lead. Darren Archibald tied the game in the second period with a feed from Curits Valk.

The Americans scored two more goals in the middle part of the second period to grab a 4-2 lead. Entering the third period, Rochester added another goal to extend the lead. Colby Robak tallied the final Comets goal to close the gap. An empty netter concluded the scoring to give the Americans a 6-3 win.

The Comets power play went 2-10, while the penalty kill surrendered one goal in five attempts.

Demko stopped 17 of 22 shots as his record falls to 7-8-3. Linus Ullmark made 26 saves to improve his record to 13-12-1.

Source: Utica Comets

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Comets have played the Devils four times this season and are 2-1-1-0 against Albany, including a 3-1 victory in their only home game against the Devils on Dec 3.

Alex Grenier leads the Comets in scoring (8-15=23 points), followed by Jordan Subban (8-12=20 points) and Curtis Valk (10-9=19 points).

VIRTANEN WATCH

Jake Virtanen continues to put in his time in the AHL with the Canucks affiliate, and after 20 games has 4 goals-3 assists=7 points.

JORDAN SUBBAN TO REPRESENT COMETS AT 2017 AHL ALL-STAR GAME

Jordan Subban has been selected to represent Utica at the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross, to be held January 29-30 at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pa., home of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

UTICA ON ROAD SATURDAY, SUNDAY TO FINISH UP WEEKEND

The Comets leave for Hershey after Friday night, to take on the Bears on Saturday; then off to face the Leigh High Valley Phantoms, Sunday.

Oct 22, 2016

Despite climbing out of a 2-0 hole, the Utica Comets lost by the score of 3-2 to the Albany Devils at the Times Union Center on Saturday night.

The Comets record falls to 1-3-0-0, while the Devils improved to a perfect 4-0-0-0.

Off-season free agent signings Michael Chaput (1-0-1) and Derek Hulak (1-0-1) each netted their first goals as a member of the Comets, while David Shields (0-1-1), Marco Roy (0-1-1), Michael Zalewski (0-1-1), and Carter Bancks (0-1-1) all recorded an assist.

Goaltender Thatcher Demko, in his second professional start, made 24 saves in the loss.

The lone goal of the first period came with 2:54 left to play in the period and gave the home team a 1-0 lead. With Andrey Pedan in the penalty box for the Comets, Reece Scarlett snaked a shot through heavy slot traffic for his first tally of the season.

The Devils doubled down on their lead in the second period’s opening minutes when John Quenneville’s power-play goal slipped between Demko’s glove and the crossbar.

Midway through the second period Comets forward Joseph LaBate received a match penalty for checking to the head. A match penalty carries a mandatory suspension pending completion of a review by the American Hockey League.

During the Comets penalty-kill of the LaBate match penalty, Carter Bancks and Michael Chaput broke into the Devils zone on a two-on-one break. Bancks drew the defender to him, and sprung Chaput on a breakaway after he chipped the puck through the defender. Chaput quickly deked the goaltender and back-handed the puck up-and-over Wedgeweood’s outstretched leg pad for his first goal as a member of the Comets.

The short-handed goal was the Comets first such goal of the season, after they led the league with 17 short-handed goals during the 2015-16 season.

A Devils miscue in their defensive zone early in the third period afforded the Comets the opportunity they needed to knot the game at 2-2.

Michael Zalewski scooped up the fumbled puck, passed it to Marco Roy, who quickly found Derek Hulak alone on the doorstep. Hulak’s shot found its way through Wedgewood and into the net for his first goal with the Comets.

The Devils claimed their second lead of the night when Jan Mandat found his first career AHL goal with 10:23 to play in the third.

The Comets successfully killed off five of the Devils seven power-play opportunities, while the power play unit was 0-for-5 on the night.

The Comets wrapped up the season-opening four-game road trip with a 1-3-0-0 record.

The club’s home opener is Wednesday night against the Binghamton Senators. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Source: Comets Struggles Against the Devils Continue | Utica Comets Official Website