November 16, 2015 – Volume 3, No. 6
Last Week in Review: The Utica Comets failed to record a point this week with a record of 0-2-0-0. The two-game road trip saw the Comets drop a 6-3 decision to the Springfield Falcons on Friday night at the MassMutual Center, and a tough 2-1 loss to the Syracuse Crunch at the War Memorial at the OnCenter, Saturday night.
The Comets’, and one of the American Hockey League’s, leading goal-scorers, Hunter Shinkaruk, earned his first career National Hockey League call-up on Saturday. The Vancouver Canucks’ first round draft pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Level draft is expected to make his first NHL start tonight against the Montreal Canadiens.
Business Side of Things:
The Streak: The Comets have sold out 23 straight home dates, including all 13 games played at The AUD during 2015 Calder Cup Playoffs, and dating back to Friday, April 10 of last season. The Comets next two homes dates, Nov. 20 vs Hartford, and Nov. 21 vs Bridgeport, are sold out. A limited number of tickets remain for the Nov. 25 game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Friday, November 13: Utica Comets @ Springfield Falcons – L 3-6
The Utica Comets first trip to the MassMutual Center did not go well, as the hometown Springfield Falcons beat the Comets 6-3 on Friday night. Hunter Shinkaruk scored his 10th goal of the season, which moved him into a tie with Frank Vatrano of the Providence Bruins for the league-lead in goals.
Nicklas Jensen (1-0-1), and Carter Bancks (1-0-1) also scored for Utica, while Richard Bachman made 28 saves in his first game as a member of the Comets. Linden Vey (0-2-2) enjoyed a two-point night with two assists.
Saturday, November 14: Utica Comets @ Syracuse Crunch – L 1-2
Despite outshooting the Syracuse Crunch 48-28, the Utica Comets lost 2-1 Saturday night at the War Memorial at the OnCenter. The Galaxy Cup series is now knotted at two points apiece.
Michael Zalewski (1-0-1) scored his third goal in four games, while Joe Cannata made 26 saves in the loss for the Comets.
A Look Ahead:
The Comets face their second three games in three days weekend, starting with a pair of home games.
Friday, November 20: Utica Comets (5-6-1-1) vs Hartford Wolf Pack (6-7-2-0)
Where: Utica Memorial Auditorium
When: 7:00 pm ET
NHL Affiliate: New York Rangers
Season Series: 0-1-0-0
Comets vs. Wolf Pack: The Utica Comets dropped their second game of the season 3-0 to the Hartford Wolf back on Oct. 17. Wolf Pack goaltender Magnus Hellberg pitched a 30-save shutout in defeat of the Comets.
About the Wolf Pack: The Wolf Pack are in the midst of a seven-game losing streak after blowing a 5-1 lead to the red-hot Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Sunday afternoon. Since the Pack’s last win, a 2-1 overtime win over the Providence Bruins back on Oct. 31, the team has been outscored 29-12 by opponents, and were shutout in three consecutive games by Toronto, Albany, and Bridgeport. Center Chad Nehring (4-7-11) leads the way in assists, points, plus/minus (+5), and penalty minutes (23) for Hartford. 2014-15 AHL All-Star, Magnus Hellberg has seen action in 13 of the Pack’s 16 games and has posted a record of 5-6-2, a 2.77 goals against average, and a .901 save percentage. The Uppsala, Sweden native shutout the Comets 3-0 earlier this season.
Saturday, November 21: Utica Comets (5-6-1-1) vs Bridgeport Sound Tigers (12-4-0-0)
Where: Utica Memorial Auditorium
When: 7:00 pm ET
NHL Affiliate: New York Islanders
Season Series: 0-0-1-0
Comets vs. Sound Tigers: The Utica Comets dropped a 3-2 overtime loss to the Sound Tigers back on Nov. 1 at the Webster Bank Arena. The Comets are 1-1-1-0 all-time vs Bridgeport.
About the Sound Tigers: The explosive Bridgeport Sound Tigers line-up is highlighted by three players in the league’s top seven scorers, led by Joe Whitney, who paces the league with 20 points (5-15-20) in 16 games. Bracken Kearns (10-6-16), who is tied for the league-lead in goals, and Alan Quine (7-9-16), complete the trio of Sound Tigers in the league leader ranks. In net, Christopher Gibson leaves the way with a 7-2-0-0 record, a .922 save percentage, and a goals against average of 2.05, good for seventh best in the league.
Sunday, November 22: Utica Comets (5-6-1-1) vs Hartford Wolf Pack (6-7-2-0)
Where: XL Center
When: 3:00 pm ET
NHL Affiliate: New York Rangers
Season Series: 0-1-0-0
Comets vs. Wolf Pack: The Utica Comets dropped their second game of the season 3-0 to the Hartford Wolf back on Oct. 17. Wolf Pack goaltender Magnus Hellberg pitched a 30-save shutout in defeat of the Comets.
About the Wolf Pack: The Wolf Pack are in the midst of a seven-game losing streak after blowing a 5-1 lead to the red-hot Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Sunday afternoon. Since the Pack’s last win, a 2-1 overtime win over the Providence Bruins back on Oct. 31, the team has been outscored 29-12 by opponents, and were shutout in three consecutive games by Toronto, Albany, and Bridgeport. Center Chad Nehring (4-7-11) leads the way in assists, points, plus/minus (+5), and penalty minutes (23) for Hartford. 2014-15 AHL All-Star, Magnus Hellberg has seen action in 13 of the Pack’s 16 games and has posted a record of 5-6-2, a 2.77 goals against average, and a .901 save percentage. The Uppsala, Sweden native shutout the Comets 3-0 earlier this season.
Shooting Star of the Week: Michael Zalewski
With three goals in the team’s past four games, the second year Comet has already matched his goal total from his rookie season. He scored his first goal at the Utica Memorial Auditorium on Nov. 6 vs the Toronto Marlies, his first at The AUD since the 2009 New York State High School championship game. The forward has a total of five points (3-2-5) so far this season. Last year the New Hartford, NY native enjoyed a 12-point season (3-9-12), and chipped in three points (1-2-3) during the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Comets Leaders
Goals: Hunter Shinkaruk (10)
Assists: Linden Vey (9)
Points: Hunter Shinkaruk (13)
Power Play Goals: Hunter Shinkaruk (5)
Penalty Minutes: Alex Friesen (26)
Shorthanded Goals: Travis Ehrhardt (1)
Shots on Goal: Alexandre Grenier (41)
Plus/Minus: Taylor Fedun (+5)
GAA: Joe Cannata (2.13)
Save Percentage: Joe Cannata (.918)
Wins: Joe Cannata (4)
Milestone Alerts:
Head Coach Travis Green is 13 regular season wins away from 100 career wins.
Travis Ehrhardt is 4 games away from his 200th AHL game.
John Negrin is 9 games away from his 200th AHL game.
Linden Vey is 3 games away from his 300th career professional game.
Blair Jones is 4 points away from his 300th career professional point.
Darren Archibald is 2 games away from his 300th career professional game.
Carter Bancks is 6 games away from his 200th AHL game, and 4 away from his 300th professional game.
Wacey Hamilton is 12 games away from his 200th AHL game.
Rapid Fire:
A Week to Remember: After claiming a share of the league-lead in goals with a tally on Friday night, forward Hunter Shinkaruk received his first National Hockey League call-up on Saturday morning. Shinkaruk will be making his NHL debut tonight when the Canucks take on the Montreal Canadiens. The Vancouver Canucks’ 24th overall draft pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Level Draft enjoyed a 31-point rookie season last year with 16 goals in 74 games.
The Graduate: When Shinkaruk takes the ice tonight for the Canucks, he will become the 11th player to make their National Hockey League debut for the parent club after starting as a Comet. Shinkaruk joins Brandon DeFazio, Darren Archibald, Alex Biega, Kellan Lain, Joacim Eriksson, Brendan Gaunce, Ben Hutton, Jake Virtanen, Bo Horvat, and Ronalds Kenins in the exclusive club.
Home Cooking and Road Blues: The Western Conference’s best home team during the 2014-15 season are up to their old tricks again at home. The Comets have recorded 12 points to date, nine of them have come at The AUD. With a record of 4-1-0-1, and a points percentage of .750 at home, the Comets look forward to returning to The AUD for a pair of home games this weekend. Conversely, the team has stumbled to a 1-5-1-0 record on the road, good for just three points.
Lucky Number 3: When the Comets fail to reach the three goal mark in a game, the team is 0-5-1-0 this season. When they successfully strike three times, the team is 5-1-0-1.
Daniels’ Debut: 26-year old defenseman Drew Daniels made his American Hockey League debut on Saturday against the Syracuse Crunch, after signing a PTO on Nov. 11. In his debut, he recorded two shots on goal and two penalty minutes. This season he has recorded 11 points (2-9-11) in nine games for the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL. During the 2014-15 season, the 6’2”, 190-poind defenseman led the ECHL in plus/minus with a +46 rating. He also posted 45 points (4-41-45), and 14 penalty minutes in 72 games.
Enter Sandman: When the Comets escape a period, any period, with the game’s lead, they are a 5-0. The team is 3-0 when leading after one period, and 5-0 when leading after two. As a franchise the team is 56-0-4-0 all-time when leading after two periods of play. The team is 39-3-2-4 when they escape the first period with a lead.
That’s J-ust Weird: Goaltender Richard Bachman started Friday night’s game vs the Springfield Falcons. It is just fourth time in the franchise’s history that the Comets net was occupied by a goaltender who’s first name did not start with the letter “J” (Joacim Eriksson, Joe Cannata, Jacob Markstrom). In such games the Comets are 0-5 all-time. Richard Bachman, Pat Nagle, and Clay Will each suffered a defeat in their lone starts, while Mathieu Corbeil recorded two losses.
