| Texas Stars 22-10-2-3, 49 pts #2 Western Conference | v. | Utica Comets 11-18-2-2, 26 pts #15 Western Conference |
January 11th at 7:00 PM
Cedar Park Center, Cedar Park, TX
One night after shutting out the Abbotsford Heat to claim first place in the division, the Stars turn around and play the league-worst Utica Comets. In their only prior meeting, Texas eeked out a 2-1 win over the Comets in New York. This could be what you'd call a trap game. After last night's big win and seeing the 11-18-2-2 record of the Comets, it could easily be overlooked as an 'easy win'.
Coach Desjardins is better than to let his team get into that mindset. Last night after the game, Justin Dowlin was extolling the virtues of Utica, reminding us that any team can beat any other team on any given night. It's good to hear that Coach Desjardins' message is really impacting the players and that they are taking it to heart. They can prove it with a big win against the Comets tonight.
Tonight's game could be the Comets' only visit to Cedar Park ever, so get a good look. The team is rumoured to be on a one-year agreement in Utica before heading out West to be closer to Vancouver. That whole distance thing already has gone poorly for them once this season.
The Comets come into the CPC on a three-game losing skid. They seemed destined to break that up on Thursday at OKC. Up by one with four seconds left, Utica left Ryan Hamilton unmarked for the game-tying goal. They would fall just seventeen seconds into overtime on a Taylor Fedun tally.
With Joacim Eriksson in Vancouver, either Joe Cannata or ECHL call-up Mathieu Corbeil will make the start in net. Josh Robinson could go for Texas.
Stars injury/call up report:
Nemeth, Glennie, Campbell, Petersen, Vause (injury)
Website: uticacomets.com
Blog (official): Comet Tales
Newspaper: Utica Observer-Dispatch
Twitter: @UticaComets
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