WWWWWWWWWWWW

There really aren't a lot of dates to circle on the AHL calendar in November when one is looking at the slate of games being played, but the Utica Comets made tonight's game one to be circled as they've opened the season on a tear. Utica opened the season with eleven-straight wins, tying their start with the 1984-85 Rochester Americans for the longest winning streak to start an AHL campaign. Tonight, the Comets welcomed the Charlotte Checkers to the Adirondack Bank Center as they looked for their twelfth win of the season in twelve games which would set the new AHL record. Could it be done on the 19th night of November, 2021?

Things looked shaky in the early-going of this game as Charlotte's Max McCormick netted his fifth goal of the campaign just 1:03 into this game to put Charlotte up early, and Utica simply couldn't find the back of the net in the opening frame as Checkers netminder Joey Daccord stopped all ten shots he faced. Through one period, the Checkers led over the Comets by a 1-0 score.

This Comets team, though, has trailed on occasion in the eleven previous games they won, so they know how to fight back and they certainly did in the second period. Nolan Foote scored the equalizer at 6:09 to make it a 1-1 game with his second of the season, and the two teams would go back to battling on even terms.

Late in the period, though, the Comets put their mark on the game as Nate Schnarr scored his third goal at 15:13 to make it 2-1, and that was followed by Schnarr's second of the period 3:06 later as he buried his fifth goal of the season to make it a 3-1 game. A two-goal outburst sent the teams into the second break with the Comets in a good spot, but there's no doubt that they were going to be tested in the third period by a feisty and determined Checkers team.

Goaltender Nico Daws was the story in the third period as he stopped all twelve shots - foreshadowing? - he saw in the third period while Utica would ice the game at 17:38 when Aarne Talvitie deposited his fifth goal of the season into a vacated net as the Utica Comets made history with their twelfth win to start the season, breaking the record set by the '84-85 Rochester Americans, in the 4-1 victory!

There are some impressive statistics in this twelve-game streak as eleven of the twelve wins have come in regulation time. Only the Providence Bruins in Utica's second game of the season were able to push the game to extra time, and they would eventually fall 2-1 in the shootout to the Comets. Needless to say, winning in regulation means that the Comets are doing a lot of things right during the 60 minutes they've given, and that speaks volumes to how head coach Kevin Dineen has his team playing.

Of those twelve wins, only three have been by one goal. They've allowed three goals just twice as they're getting the job done at the defensive end of the ice as well. The Comets are also scoring a ton of goals early in this season as they've outscored their opponents 49-21 over the win streak. If you're doing the math, that's slightly more than four goals per game, and that's an impressive total for any team at any level in a twelve-game span.

Utica's power-play is tied at fourth-best in the AHL at 23.5%, but it's not like they're dominating the special teams in these twelve games as they're just 5-of-41 with the advantage thus far. They're also fifth-overall for their penalty-killing numbers at 87.8% in having successfully killed 47 of 54 shorthanded situations. Needless to say, the Comets' five-on-five play has been incredibly dominant through these twelve games.

The teams who took part in setting this record include a distinctly Canadian flavour as the Comets have defeated Syracuse three times, Rochester twice, Laval twice, Providence, Lehigh Valley, Toronto, Belleville, and Charlotte. The three Canadian teams have been outscored 18-8 in those four games with Laval's two games being the closest as they lost both games by two goals, so there is a touch of Canada in this new record set by Utica.

There's little time to celebrate, though, as the Utica Comets will resume play tomorrow against the Rochester Americans who they've already defeated twice this season by a combined 9-4 score in those games. Each win beyond tonight only sets a new record, so it will be interesting to see who may break the streak looking at Utica's schedule. They play Rochester tomorrow, as stated, and again on Wednesday, and follow that two-game set with another pair of games against the Checkers. The Comets don't play a team they haven't seen this season until Saturday, December 4 when they visit Hartford, Connecticut for a date with the Wolf Pack.

I'm not here to curse the streak by any means, but might we see this streak extend to 15 or 16 games? It very well could as Utica is on a roll. They do deserve some kudos for the streak, though, so congratulations to the Utica Comets for their record-setting start to the AHL season!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!