Ben Birnell

The Utica Comets will have a good opportunity to find out how well they play on the road to begin their fifth season.

The AHL schedule which was released Tuesday afternoon has Utica opening a season with a pair of games on back-to-back days at rival Toronto. The teams meet Saturday, Oct. 7 and Sunday, Oct. 8 with both games set for 4 p.m., according to the AHL. It is the third time the Comets open the season against the Marlies.

The contests are part of a stretch in which the Comets play a franchise-most seven consecutive road games to begin the 2017-18 season, due to work being done at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. During the stretch, Utica will play at the Rochester Americans and new Eastern Conference opponent Charlotte twice and rival Syracuse once.

The Comets home opener, which was announced Monday, is set for Wednesday, Nov. 1 against Rochester. That contest starts a five-game homestand for the Comets and is part of a stretch when the the team plays nine out of 12 games at home. Charlotte makes its first and only visit to Utica during the homestand with games Wednesday, Nov. 8 and Friday, Nov. 10.

The Comets conclude the season at the Aud on Sunday, April 15 against division foe Binghamton, which is New Jerseys affiliate this season after a move from Albany.

There was no announcement on when the Comets promotional schedule will be released or when single-game tickets go on sale.

Here are five other things to know about the Comets schedule, which was part of an earlier release by the AHL this summer:

Heavy dose of North Division teams

For the second time in as many seasons, the Comets will meet North Division rival Syracuse a total of 12 times in the regular season. Syracuse, which new Comets coach Trent Cull helped make a run to the Calder Cup Finals last season, visits Utica for the first time Wednesday, Dec. 6.

Utica plays division foe Rochester 10 times (five home, five away) and eight each against Binghamton, Laval (Montreals affiliate in Quebec, which relocated from St. Johns) and Toronto (four home, four away). Utica plays Belleville (Ottawas new affiliate, which moved from Binghamton) six times (three home, three away).

Working for the weekend

A majority of the AHLs games are played on the weekend. This season, a total of 27 of the Comets 38 home games are part of that direction.

Of those games, 20 are on a Friday and six are on Saturday. All home games are set for 7 p.m. starts. The exception is the teams regular-season finale, which is set for 3 pm.

Utica plays 11 times on Wednesdays to round out its 38 home contests.

Quirks in the schedule

There are three times when the Comets are set to play road games early on a week day.

Two of the instances are on Mondays against North Division teams. The Comets play Rochester at 1:05 p.m. March 15 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) and Belleville at 3 p.m. on March 19.

The Comets earliest game of the season is set for 11 a.m. Thursday, April 5 when they play Toronto.

Busy stretches

There are four times during the season when the Comets play three-games-in-three days. Three of these instances are in March, with another in April.

There are seven instances when the Comets play three games in four days. Familiar faces?

One Atlantic Division team Utica plays four times during the season is Springfield, which could feature Alex Grenier and Curtis Valk, who each had big seasons for the Comets in 2016-17. Springfield is set to visit Utica on Saturday, Feb. 24 and Friday, March 9.

Rome native Tom Sestito, who re-signed with the Pittsburgh organization this month, could return to Utica when the Penguins' affiliate (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) visits Friday, March 23.

Follow @OD_Birnell on Twitter or call at 315-792-5032.

Heres the Comets full schedule (all times Eastern; games subject to change):

October

Saturday, Oct. 7: at Toronto, 4

Saturday, Oct. 8: at Toronto, 4

Friday, Oct. 13: at Rochester, 7:05

Saturday, Oct. 14: at Syracuse, 7

Saturday, Oct. 21: at Rochester, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 28 at Charlotte, 6

Saturday, Oct. 29 at Charlotte, 1

November

Wednesday, Nov. 1: vs. Rochester, 7

Friday, Nov. 3: vs. Binghamton, 7

Saturday, Nov. 4: vs. Rochester, 7

Wednesday, Nov. 8: vs. Charlotte, 7

Friday, Nov. 10: vs. Charlotte, 7

Wednesday, Nov. 15: at Laval, 7:30

Friday, Nov. 17: vs. Belleville, 7

Saturday, Nov. 18: vs. Hartford, 7

Wednesday, Nov. 22: vs. Toronto, 7

Friday, Nov. 24: at Laval, 7:30

Saturday, Nov. 25: at Laval, 3

Wednesday, Nov. 29: vs. Rochester, 7

December

Friday, Dec. 1: vs. Bridgeport, 7

Saturday, Dec. 2: at Bridgeport, 7

Wednesday, Dec. 6: vs. Syracuse, 7

Saturday, Dec. 9: at Providence, 7:05

Sunday, Dec. 10: at Providence, 3:05

Wednesday, Dec. 13: at Rochester, 7:05

Friday, Dec. 15: vs. Binghamton, 7

Saturday, Dec. 16: vs. Rochester, 7

Wednesday, Dec. 20: vs. Toronto, 7

Friday, Dec. 22: vs. Toronto, 7

Saturday, Dec. 23: at Syracuse, 7

Wednesday, Dec. 27: vs. Providence, 7

Friday, Dec. 29: vs. Providence, 7

Saturday, Dec. 30: at Syracuse, 7

January

Friday, Jan. 5: vs. Laval, 7

Sunday, Jan. 7: vs. Hartford, 5

Wednesday, Jan. 10: at Laval, 7:30

Monday, Jan. 15: at Rochester, 1:05

Wednesday, Jan. 17: vs. Rochester, 7

Friday, Jan. 19: at Hartford, 7:15

Saturday, Jan. 20: vs. Syracuse, 7

Wednesday, Jan. 24: vs. Hartford, 7

Friday, Jan. 26: at Binghamton, 7:05

Saturday, Jan. 27: at Lehigh Valley, 7:05

February

Friday, Feb. 2: vs. Syracuse, 7

Saturday, Feb. 3: at Syracuse, 7

Friday, Feb. 9: vs. Laval, 7

Saturday, Feb. 10: vs. Belleville, 7

Wednesday, Feb. 14: vs. Syracuse, 7

Friday, Feb. 16: vs. Binghamton, 7

Saturday, Feb. 17: at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 7:05

Monday, Feb. 19: at Belleville, 3

Wednesday, Feb. 21: vs. Lehigh Valley, 7

Friday, Feb. 23: vs. Laval, 7

Saturday, Feb. 24: vs. Springfield, 7

March

Friday, March 2: vs. Belleville, 7

Saturday, March 3: at Hershey, 7

Sunday, March 4: at Binghamton, 5:05

Friday, March 9: vs. Springfield, 7

Saturday, March 10 at Springfield, 7:05

Friday, March 16: vs. Laval, 7

Saturday, March 17: at Belleville, 7

Sunday, March 18: at Toronto, 4

Friday, March 23: vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 7

Saturday, March 24: at Syracuse, 7

Sunday, March 25: at Binghamton, 5:05

Wednesday, March 28: at Rochester, 7:05

Friday, March 30: vs. Hershey, 7

Saturday, March 31: at Springfield, 7:05

The rest is here:

Utica Comets' schedule features long road stretch, North Division teams - Utica Observer Dispatch