Anderson, Henrique Lead Devils to Victory

Published on January 8, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany Devils News Release


ALBANY, NY ‚¬" Matt Anderson and Adam Henrique each had a goal and an assist as the Albany Devils grabbed a 2-1 victory against the Syracuse Crunch Saturday night at the Times Union Center. The tandem assisted on each other goals and Anderson netted the winner at 3:54 of the final period.

The win for Albany was their first at the Times Union Center since Nov. 27 against Binghamton (4-3). The Devils improve to 14-20-0-3, while the Crunch move to 14-20-1-3.

"This has been accumulation of the last couple of games," said head coach Rick Kowalsky. "I like the fact we're getting some good chances and we have for quite a few games. We talk about creating more than 10 quality chances a game and we've been right up around the 12 to 16 range. That's a lot of good chances."

As the early part of the third period progressed, Syracuse nearly took the lead, but a sprawling and flipping Mike McKenna made a desperation save, keeping the game scoreless. The netminder rolled on his back and kicked his legs in the air after the puck slide through the crease and onto the stick of Nick Bonino.

"I knew I was in trouble because he didn't shoot the puck originally," McKenna said. "I didn't feel a save on my paddle down, so I knew I had to fill the net vertically. I'm staring at my pad and I saw the puck hit it."

Moments later Jacob Josefson found Henrique in the neutral zone. Henrique fought through a check and hit Anderson with a pass in the slot. Anderson's wrist shot picked the upper-right corner.

"Once I saw him get by the d-man, I jumped," Anderson said. "He made a great pass. To be honest with you, my career has been on the other side of this. I've been the guy to deal the puck to score the goal. It's really to have someone pass it to you."

Early on, the roles were reversed as Anderson chipped the puck head from the right wing and created a two-on-one. He looked off a defender, but had his attempt stopped by Jean-Philippe Levasseur. The rebound popped out and found the stick of Henrique, who scored at 11:20 of the first.

Another rebound led to the game's second goal, but this time Syracuse's Eric Lampe, who reaped the benefits of being camped in front of the net at 3:54 of the second. It was a third-try effort and Matt Kennedy and Joe DiPenta had the assists.

That was the only goal McKenna surrendered as he finished with 23 saves. He is now 3-7-0 on the year. Levasseur made 26 saves for Syracuse.

Next up, the Devils travel to Worcester for a 7 p.m. contest on Tuesday, Jan. 11.

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