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Albany Devils End Long Weekend with OT Loss

November 1, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany Devils News Release


ALBANY, NY - The first three-on-three overtime at Times Union Center didn't go as the hometown crowd hoped. Just 20 seconds into the extra frame, Mark Arcobello deked past a defender and beat goaltender Yann Danis' glove to give the Toronto Marlies a 3-2 victory against the Albany Devils Sunday.

The Devils finished their three-in-three home weekend with a 1-1-1-0 record and are now 4-3-2-0 on the season. The Marlies improve to a North Division best 7-3-0-0.

Danis had his four game win streak snapped despite stopping 18 of 21 shots. He fell to 4-1-2-0 on the season. Antoine Bibeau made 20 saves for Toronto in the victory.

The Devils power play continued to have success with two first period goals despite facing a stingy Toronto penalty kill, which ranked second in the league and had only allowed three power-play goals all season prior to the game.

Reid Boucher, who returned to the lineup after missing two games with an illness, quickly made his presence felt with a one-timer from the circle that beat Bibeau glove side at 3:40 to give the Devils the lead. Brandon Burlon and Corey Tropp had the assists.

Andrew Campbell tied the game for the Marlies at 9:29 when he received the puck off the faceoff and fired it past Danis.

Mike Sislo recaptured the Devils' lead two minutes later with his team-leading sixth goal, which came on a five-on-three power play at 11:29. Marc-Andre Gragnani sent the puck across ice to Boucher who set up Sislo's blast from between the circles. Both Sislo and Gragnani extended their point streaks to five games.

The Marlies tied up the game again before the first ended on a goal from Arcobello on a delayed penalty. He used the free space to his advantage, gaining room in the high slot and firing a quick shot to the back of the net at 17:28.

The Devils weathered a storm of pressure in the early part of second period. Hemmed into their own zone, the Devils relied on several excellent saves by Danis and strong defensive plays including a diving sweep check by Burlon to clear the puck from the crease.

Albany found more rhythm in killing off a Dan Kelly penalty and pushed the Marlies back toward the end of the period and nearly regained the lead when Boucher stole a pass and raced to a breakaway that was eventually broken up.

The third period saw back-and-forth action with both teams getting good opportunities to take the lead. The Devils took 12 shots in the third after combining for 10 in the first two periods, but couldn't beat Bibeau. Danis made several scrambling pad saves in quick succession in the middle of the period and then several more key saves in the final minute of regulation to force overtime.

THREE IMPRESSIONS

The Albany Devils had a strong performance against the Toronto Marlies on Sunday afternoon at Times Union Center. Unfortunately, it was the visiting Marlies who prevailed in overtime, 3-2, to close out a three-in-three stretch for the Devils.

Here are three takeaways from Sunday's loss:

Welcome Back Boucher

After missing games on Friday and Saturday due to an illness, Devils forward Reid Boucher returned to the lineup on Sunday and played well. He scored his third goal of the season on a one-time blast when the Devils were on the power play in the first period. Later in the period, he added an assist on a Mike Sislo goal.

"I felt pretty good tonight," Boucher said. "We've been making good plays. Our power play has been quick, moving the puck well, and getting the good shots that we want."

"I thought he was good tonight; he was fresh," Devils coach Rick Kowalsky said of Boucher. "That's how he needs to skate and compete like that every night if he wants to play in the NHL."

Tiring Weekend

The Devils played their second straight three-in-three weekend of the season, this time all three games were at home. At the end of Sunday's game, it appeared the Devils were a little fatigued while Toronto had fresh legs after not playing on Saturday.

"I thought guys started to run out of gas, but I thought we played an up tempo paced game for probably close to 45-50 minutes," Kowalsky said.

"I thought we worked hard, we played smart, we had a lot of opportunities, and I think we deserved a better fate," Sislo said.

Toronto Hangin' Tough

In three matchups against the Marlies this season, the Devils have won only one, with both losses coming in overtime. On Sunday, Marlies forward Mark Arcobello broke through to score the winner past goaltender Yann Danis. The Devils and Marlies will play three more times this season.

"They're a very skilled team," Boucher said. "I thought we did a good job tonight of playing hard against them and skating with them."

"They're a really good team. They're good in net. They have a lot of good defenseman, they can score, and they're skilled up front" Sislo said. "I think we played well and we should have been able to beat them, I think, tonight."

The Devils head to Syracuse to play the Crunch Friday at 7 pm.



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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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