War Memorial Arena, 7 p.m.
Tonight’s Game: The Utica Comets take on the Syracuse Crunch in Game 10 of the Galaxy Cup series. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
Last Game: The Utica Comets fought out of a 1-0 deficit to comeback and beat the Laval Rocket 2-1 in a shootout Friday night at the Adirondack Bank Center. Tanner Kero scored the lone regulation goal, while Seamus Malone and Lukas Jasek scored in the shootout to give the Comets the win. Michael Leighton made 13 saves on 14 shots.
Head-to-Head: This is the 10th of 12 meetings between the North Division rivals this season. Syracuse leads the season series 5-4-0-0 and won the most recent matchup 4-0 back on March 8.
Scouting the Crunch: Syracuse comes in with a record of 41-18-4-2 and sits in first place in the North Division. They most recently fell to the Charlotte Checkers 4-2 Wednesday night. Carter Verhaeghe leads the offense with 70 points, followed by Alex Barre-Boulet with 58 points. Eddie Pasquale is the leading active goalie with a record of 24-11-5, a 2.40 goals-against average, and .915 save percentage.
Playoff Hopes: The Comets will need another win to keep pace in the race for the fourth and final spot in the North Division. A win last night combined with a Belleville loss put Utica back within four points of the Senators. However, Cleveland also earned a win to stay afloat. Utica is tied with Cleveland with 70 points on the year, but the Monsters have two games in hand on the Comets. If the Comets want to get in, they will need some help from other teams as well.
Heating Up: Tanner Kero just keeps on rolling offensively. Kero has three points in his last four games (2-1-3) after going pointless in the previous three games. The forward is having a career season, tallying 52 points (23-29-52) in 61 games this season.
In For The Kill: The Comets penalty kill continues to dominate. Utica has only allowed two power play goals in their last five games and has killed off 22 of their last 24 penalties. Overall, the Comets penalty kill ranks 20th in the AHL at 80.7%.
Finding A Rhythm: Jalen Chatfield is starting to find a nice groove on offense. Chatfield has registered an assist in back-to-back games and has posted five shots on goal in his last three games. The second-year defenseman has six points (0-6-6) in 34 games this year.
Next Game: The Comets are back in action Friday, March 30 when they host the Toronto Marlies. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. Fan are encouraged to use the ticket exchange site, StubHub!. The game can be heard on 94.9 KROCK and viewed on AHLTV.