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Devils beat Everblades for a second time, still can't solve the Jackals

December 8, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Trenton Devils News Release


TRENTON, NJ -- The Trenton Devils split the weekend with a 4-3 win at home over the Florida Everblades on Friday and a 3-2 loss on the road against the Elmira Jackals Saturday night. The Devils have two games coming up this week with a home tilt against the Johnstown Chiefs on Friday night and another road test against Elmira on Sunday.

DEVILS DEFEAT EVERBLADES: The Trenton Devils continued their mastery of the American Conference South Division leaders, the Florida Everblades, with a 4-3 shootout win Friday night at Sovereign Bank Arena. The Devils struck first 7:02 into the game as Jim Henkel fired a shot from the right circle past Anton Khudobin, Henkel's third goal of the season. The Everblades tied the game at 11:28 as Kevin Baker took advantage of a Dylan Quaile turnover and scored a power play goal from the slot. Tyler Burton, who scored a hat trick in the previous game between the two teams, netted his team-leading eighth goal of the season at 16:29 to put the Devils ahead 2-1 going into the first intermission. A costly turnover by Eric Castonguay to Matt Auffrey in the Trenton zone set up a goal for Mathieu Roy, who tied the game at 4:19 of the second. Auffrey then gave Florida the lead with a power play goal at 12:17, his first as an Everblade. The Devils tied the game up with 10 seconds remaining in a second thanks to Matt Cohen's hard work on the power play. The second-year defenseman kept the play alive in the Florida zone and later fired a one-timer from the slot to tie the game at three. In the third period, the Devils controlled the tempo but a major penalty to Jeremy Akeson with 4:12 left to play gave the Devils a challenge to come out of the game with a point. Fortunately, the Devils' penalty kill stood their ground and held the Everblades to no shots on the man advantage, forcing overtime and eventually, a shootout. Castonguay atoned for his earlier error with a shootout goal in the first round. In round three, Charlie Effinger made a miraculous glove save on former Miami University teammate Ernie Hartlieb to keep the Everblades off the board. Trenton newcomer Brad Snetsinger gave Trenton a two-goal advantage as his shot slipped through Khudobin, meaning it was up to Baker to save the game for Florida. Instead, Baker shot the puck wide on his attempt, giving the Devils their second victory in six nights against the Everblades. The Devils were the only team to defeat Florida on their nine-game road trip.

ELMIRA EDGES TRENTON: The Elmira Jackals scored three unanswered goals to defeat the Devils, 3-2, Saturday night at First Arena. Jeff Prough put Trenton on the board 8:37 into the contest as he put in a rebound left by Elmira goaltender Mitch O'Keefe. The goal was Prough's sixth of the season, his fourth since joining the Devils. In the second period, Matt Cohen shot a puck from the left circle that trickled through O'Keefe to make it 2-0 at 4:31. From that point, the Jackals took control of the play, as Steve Yetman put the Jackals within a goal at 12:33. While the Devils led going into the third period, their lead would not last as Cohen turned over a loose puck behind his own net to Benoit Doucet, who used a wrap-around past Jason Smith to tie the game at 3:29. Josh Aspenlind then scored the deciding goal with less than nine minutes remaining as he deflected a Pierre-Luc Faubert shot past Smith to give Elmira a 3-2 win.

PROUGH'S A REAL PRO: Jeff Prough has six points (3g, 3a) in his last four games for the Devils. The Brown University product is eighth on his school's all-time scoring list with 109 points, and was a teammate of current T-Devil Chris Poli in all four seasons at Brown.

BACK TO THE BIG LEAGUES: Former Trenton Devil Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond was called up to the National Hockey League for the second time this season, as the enforcer appeared in the New Jersey Devils' wins over the Philadelphia Flyers and the Montreal Canadiens in the past week. Letourneau-Leblond played in 58 career games for Trenton, collecting 229 penalty minutes.

QUICK HITS: The voluntary suspension of the Augusta Lynx last Tuesday affects the Devils, as the two teams were scheduled to play each other on March 3, 2009. The ECHL has not announced a makeup for the game...Trenton center Tony Zancanaro made his season debut Friday night after starting the season on the injured reserve list. He notched 39 points (15g, 24a) for Trenton last season, which was good for fourth on the team.

UPCOMING GAMES

Friday, December 12, 7:30 p.m. -- Devils vs. Johnstown Chiefs

The Johnstown Chiefs return to Sovereign Bank Arena for the sixth meeting between the two teams this season. The Chiefs have won four out of the five games against the Devils, who have a much different team than the last time they faced off against Johnstown on November 28, when the Chiefs won 3-2 in a shootout. Johnstown could be without the services of Andrew Sarauer, who had 18 points in 14 games for Johnstown in the month of November, and was rewarded with a call-up to Lake Erie of the American Hockey League on Saturday.

Sunday, December 14, 4:05 p.m. -- Devils at Elmira Jackals

The Devils will face Elmira for the second time in eight days at the First Arena on Sunday. The Jackals haven't been too kind to the Devils this season by winning all four games between the clubs. Trenton will turn to Eric Castonguay for some offense against Elmira, as the Quebec native has 17 points (10g, 7a) in 14 career games against the Jackals.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Tuesday, December 9, 2:00 p.m. -- Build-a-Bear Workshop, Lawrenceville, N.J.

Trenton Devils players will be building teddy bears, courtesy of the Build-a-Bear Workshop, at the Quaker Bridge Mall in Lawrenceville, N.J. The bears will be put up for auction during the Devils' home game against the Reading Royals on Saturday, December 20.

Friday, December 12, 7:30 p.m. -- Teddy Bear Toss at Sovereign Bank Arena

Fans are encouraged to bring teddy bears and other stuffed animals to the Trenton Devils game against the Johnstown Chiefs on Friday night. During the game's first intermission, fans can toss those stuffed animals onto the ice that will be collected and donated to the St. Francis Medical Center's C.A.R.E.S., Children's Futures, and Angel's Wings programs.

Saturday, December 13, 10:00 am -- PEAC Member Holiday Party, Ewing, N.J.

Scorch will spread his holiday cheer by visiting PEAC members at their annual member holiday party.

Practice/Game Schedule:

Tuesday, December 9 -- Practice @ Sovereign Bank Arena -- 10:30 a.m.

Wednesday, December 10 -- Practice @ Sovereign Bank Arena -- 10:30 a.m.

Thursday, December 11 -- Practice @ Sovereign Bank Arena -- 10:30 a.m.

Friday, December 12 -- Pre-game skate @ Sovereign Bank Arena -- 10:00 a.m.

Game vs. Johnstown -- 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 13 -- Practice at Grundy Recreation Center -- TBD

Travel to Elmira

Sunday, December 14 -- Game @ Elmira -- 4:00 p.m.

Return to Trenton

Monday, December 15 -- Practice @ Sovereign Bank Arena -- 10:30 a.m.

DEVILS GAME BROADCASTS: Tune in as Paul Roper brings you all of the Devils' hockey action live Saturday and Sunday on www.trentondevils.com, courtesy of B2 Networks. Video broadcasts are available for a charge of $7 per game, while audiocasts are free of charge. A cable or DSL Internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 are required to view the games.



ECHL Stories from December 8, 2008


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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