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Albany Devils Weekly

December 26, 2012 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany Devils News Release


FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS WEEK

After a brief Holiday break, the Albany Devils resume play with three games, beginning Thursday at the Springfield Falcons. The Devils then host the Binghamton Senators Friday and then travel to the Hershey Bears Saturday. All three contests are slated for 7 pm. Albany is fifth in the Northeast Division and 15th in the Eastern Conference with a 9-10-1-6 record (25 pts.), including a 4-5-0- 4 mark at home and a 5-5-1-2 record on the road.

Friday's game at the Times Union Center features a Holiday Ticket Special - all tickets are $10 at the box office. The first 2,000 fans to arrive will receive a free Albany Devils Winter Hat. Additionally, the evening includes SEFCU College Night with $10 admission and a voucher for a $1 hot dog and a $1 soda for students. Happy Hour with $2 domestic beers will be between 6-7 pm.

The Devils are hosting the first ever "Capital Region Women for Women Night," which begins with a special V.I.P. reception Friday at 5:15 pm. The event features a keynote address from University of Albany's Women's Basketball Head Coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson ("Coach Abe"). Additionally, the Devils will honor two extraordinary women who have made an impact on the local community. For more information or to purchase tickets call (518) 433-8457 or visit thealbanydevils.com/december28.

Springfield is first in the Northeast Division and second in the Eastern Conference with a 16-6-2-3 showing (37 pts.), including a 6-3-1-3 mark at home. Binghamton is second in the East Division and fourth in the conference with a 16-6-1-2 record (35 pts.), featuring a 6-4-0-2 mark on the road. Hershey is fourth in the East Division and tied for seventh in the conference with a 14-13-1-1 record (30 pts.), including a 6-8-1-1 showing at home.

Thursday's game can be heard on 104.5 "The Team" ESPN Radio and Friday's game can be followed on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (Sirius 207 or XM 92). Fans can listen/watch all three games online at ahllive.com.

DEVILS NOTABLES

- Albany's penalty kill unit ranks fourth in the league with an 86.8 percentage, allowing 17 goals on 136 attempts. The unit is operating at 87.1 percent at home and 86.5 percent on the road. The Devils, who are 7-2-1-4 when holding opponents scoreless on the power play, have registered four shorthanded goals, which ranks tied for fifth.

- The Devils are 6-3-0-1 within the Northeast Division, posting a 3-1-0-1 home record and a 3-2-0-0 road mark.

- The team is 7-3-1-3 when scoring first, 5-3-0-1 when leading after the first and 7-0-0-1 when leading after two.

- Adam Larsson and Tim Sestito are the only Devils to appear in all 26 games. Larsson is second on the team with 14 points with two goals and a team-best 12 assists, while Sestito has registered nine points with two goals and seven helpers.

- Bobby Butler and Jacob Josefson are tied for the team lead with 16 points and both players are tied for third with plus-6 ratings. Butler has a team-high 11 goals to go along with five assists and Josefson has eight goals and eight assists. In the last 11 games, Butler has registered nine goals, four assists and a plus-nine rating. Josefson, who missed Friday's game at Norfolk with the flu, has four assists in his last five outings.

- Matt Anderson leads the team with a plus-8 rating and he ranks fifth with 12 points, including five goals and seven assists. He registered a pair of goals last week scoring at Bridgeport Wednesday and at Norfolk Friday.

- After missing three-out-of-the-first-four games of the season, Corbin McPherson has played in 22 consecutive games. He has posted one assist and 14 penalty minutes.

-Phil DeSimone, who was loaned to Trenton (ECHL) last Wednesday, was recalled by Albany Sunday. In three games with Trenton, he registered five points with three goals and two assists.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Wed., Dec. 19; Albany 3 at Bridgeport 4 (Webster Bank Arena)

Despite goals from Mike Sislo, Mattias Tedenby and Matt Anderson, the Devils lost, 4-3, against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers Wednesday at Webster Bank Arena. The Devils erased a pair of deficits, but Bridgeport's Matt Donovan netted the game-winning goal midway through the third.

Sislo registered his first goal of the season, while Tedenby posted his fifth and Anderson notched his fourth. Adam Larsson had his fourth multiple-point game by registering a pair of helpers. Goaltender Keith Kinkaid saw his five-game winning streak halted; he made 26 saves on 30 shots.

Donovan finished with two goals as did Casey Cizikas. In goal, Kevin Poulin, who was coming off a 50-save performance Saturday, earned his seventh win by making 31 saves.

1st Period-1, Bridgeport, Cizikas 7 (McDonald, Landry), 7:10. 2, Albany, Sislo 1 (McKelvie, Larsson), 14:45. 3, Albany, Tedenby 5 (Gionta, Sestito), 15:54.

2nd Period-4, Bridgeport, Donovan 2 (Watkins, Backman), 1:45. 5, Bridgeport, Cizikas 8 (Sundstrom, Persson), 12:14. 6, Albany, Anderson 4 (Larsson), 15:39 (PP).

3rd Period-7, Bridgeport, Donovan 3 (Sundstrom), 12:44.

Shots on Goal-Albany 13-9-12-34. Bridgeport 15-7-8-30.

Power Play Opportunities-Albany 1 / 5; Bridgeport 0 / 6.

Goalies-Albany, Kinkaid 6-7-3 (30 shots-26 saves). Bridgeport, Poulin 7-5-2 (34 shots-31 saves).

Fri., Dec. 21; Albany 1 at Norfolk 2 (Norfolk Scope Arena)

The Devils ran out of time against the Norfolk Admirals, falling 2-1 Friday at Norfolk Scope Arena. Matt Anderson netted his fifth goal of the season and second in as many games and Jeff Frazee turned aside 28 shots.

Anderson spoiled Norfolk netminder Igor Bobkov's shutout bid with 25.9 second remaining. The goal was a product of a pass through the goal crease by Mike Sislo to Anderson for a one-timer. At the time, the Devils were pressuring with an extra attacker on the ice.

After the ensuing faceoff, Albany regained control in the offensive end, but Norfolk fought off the Devils last-second push.

In his 10th start, Frazee made 12 saves in the first, 13 in the second and three in the third. At the other end, Bobkov finished with 35 saves, including 25 in the last two periods. Albany outshot Norfolk, 36-30.

Norfolk's Devante Smith-Pelly and Patrick Maroon each had power-play goals on similar plays. Both tallies came off rebounds from shots from the outside in the first period. Smith- Pelly's came at 4:00 and Maroon's came at 16:31.

1st Period-1, Norfolk, Smith-Pelly 5 (Guentzel, Guenin), 4:00 (PP). 2, Norfolk, Maroon 8 (Vatanen, Holland), 16:31 (PP).

2nd Period- No Scoring.

3rd Period-3, Albany, Anderson 5 (Sislo), 19:34. Shots on Goal-Albany 10-12-14-36. Norfolk 14-13-3-30.

Power Play Opportunities-Albany 0 / 10; Norfolk 2 / 10.

Goalies-Albany, Frazee 3-4-3 (30 shots-28 saves). Norfolk, Bobkov 6-7-0 (36 shots-35 saves).

Current Streaks

None

Upcoming Milestones

Matt Anderson - 24 away from 200 career AHL points

Phil DeSimone - 18 away from 100 career AHL games

Jeff Frazee - 1 away from 10 career AHL shutouts

Eric Gelinas - 15 away from 100 career AHL games

Adam Henrique - 8 away from 100 career AHL games

Mike Hoeffel - 24 away from 100 career AHL games

Mike Sislo - 22 away from 100 career AHL games

Joe Whitney - 7 away from 100 career AHL games

Recent Milestones

Matt Anderson - 300th career AHL game; at NOR (Dec. 22)

Tim Sestito - 300 career AHL game; at NOR (Dec. 21)

Steve Zalewski - 200th career AHL point; vs. WBS (Dec. 12)

Tim Sestito - 100th career AHL point; at RCH (Nov. 23)

Jay Leach - 450th career AHL game; vs. NOR (Nov. 12)

Matt Anderson - 100th career AHL assist; vs. PRO (Apr. 14)

Sat., Dec. 22; Albany 1 at Norfolk 2 (Norfolk Scope Arena) -- Overtime

The Devils came within 33 seconds of their sixth win during December, but two goals by Emerson Etem gave the Norfolk Admirals at 2-1 overtime victory Saturday at Norfolk Scope Arena.

Leading 1-0 during the last minute of regulation, the Devils were faced with defending six skaters. As the puck worked its way behind Albany's net, Etem was hit for a one-timer in front by Patrick Maroon, tying the game.

In overtime, Etem split two Devils defensemen off the faceoff, deked around goaltender Keith Kinkaid and ended the contest six seconds into the extra frame.

For Albany, Bobby Butler registered his 11th goal of the year and eighth in the last nine contests and Kinkaid made 34 saves.

1st Period- No Scoring.

2nd Period- No Scoring.

3rd Period-1, Albany, Butler 11 (Zalewski), 4:42. 2, Norfolk, Etem 7 (Maroon, Vatanen), 19:27.

OT Period-3, Norfolk, Etem 8 (Holland), 0:06. Penalties-No Penalties Shots on Goal-Albany 11-10-5-0-26. Norfolk 13-8-14-1-36.

Power Play Opportunities-Albany 0 / 4; Norfolk 0 / 2.

Goalies-Albany, Kinkaid 6-7-3 (36 shots-34 saves). Norfolk, Bobkov 6-7-0 (26 shots-25 saves).

PAPA JOHN'S FAMILY 4 PACK

The Albany Devils and Papa John's have teamed for a special offer for the Sunday, Jan. 6 game against the Binghamton Senators at 4 pm. The Papa John's Family 4 Pack includes:

- 4 Tickets to Jan. 6 Game at 4 pm

- 4 Albany Devils Hats

- Voucher for One Large Pizza

- Voucher for One Cinnapie

Fans can purchase the pack for just $52.

Thu., Dec. 27 at Springfield Falcons (MassMutual Center) The Springfield Falcons, who are 6-3-1-0 in their last 10 outings, split a pair of games last week with a 3-2 loss at the Portland Pirates Wednesday and a 1-0 victory at the Hershey Bears Saturday. This season, Springfield has outscored its opponents 90-61 and is 14-1-0- 0 when leading after two periods.

Cam Atkinson, who is tied for third in the AHL with 30 points, including 15 goals and 15 assists, leads the team, while Jonathan Audy-Marchessault is second with 27 points with eight goals and a team-best 19 assists. Defenseman David Savard is fifth with 20 points with three goals and 17 helpers.

Springfield has leaned heavily on netminder Curtis McElhinney, who has played in 21 of the team's 27 games. With a 15-3-2 record, he ranks first in the league for wins and is third with a 1.98 goals- against average and a .937 save percentage. Additionally, he leads the league with six shutouts.

Fri., Dec. 28 vs. Binghamton Senators (Times Union Center)

The Binghamton Senators went 2-0-0-1 in three games last week. They defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 4-3, at home Wednesday and followed with a shootout loss at the Rochester Americans, 6-5, Friday. They then knocked off the Americans, 5-1, at home Saturday.

Rookie Jakob Silfverberg leads the Senators with 22 points, including a team-high 11 goals. He is also tied with Andre Benoit for the club lead with 11 assists. Benoit, who has nine goals, is second on the team with 20 points.

Ben Bishop and Robin Lehner have shared goaltending responsibilities. Bishop is 6-2-1 with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage. Lehner is 10-4-1 with a 1.93 goals- against average a .943 save percentage.

Sat., Dec. 29 at Hershey Bears (Giant Center)

The Hershey Bears are coming off a 4-0 win against the Norfolk Admirals Wednesday and a 1-0 loss against the Springfield Falcons Saturday. Hershey is 3-1-0-1 in its last five games and 6-3-0-1 in its last 10.

Jeff Taffe, who netted a goal in his team's 3-0 win against the Devils on Oct. 27, leads the team with 29 points, including six goals and a club-best 23 assists. Jon DiSalvatore is second with 24 points with nine goals and 15 assists and Zach Hamill and Tomas Kundratek are tied for third with 17 points with nine goals and eight assists each.

In goal, Braden Holtby has carried much of the load, appearing in 21 games. He is 11-9-1 with a 2.21 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.

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