Devils Control Play But Lose to Checkers

January 7, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany Devils News Release


ALBANY, N.Y. ‚¬" Michael Swift and Matt Anderson scored for the Albany Devils, who lost, 4-2, to the Charlotte Checkers Friday night at the Times Union Center. The Checkers were led by goaltender Justin Pogge's 37-save performance, including 26 stops in the second and third periods.

"We got a lot of shots on net," Swift said. "We were in their end for most of the night. We took the play to them, which we really haven't been doing lately. We had spurts, but we didn't play a full 60, but we came close. We are getting there."

The two leading scorers had goals for the Devils as Swift netted his team-leading 13th goal, while Anderson posted his 12th. Both players are tied for first on the team with 23 points.

Swift's goal game in the form of a penalty shot at 13:55 of the second to make it 1-1. He beat Pogge through the five hole for the Devils' first penalty shot goal since Feb. 3, 2007 when Petr Vrana beat Hershey netminder Frederic Cassivi.

"I just do whatever comes to my head," Swift said when asked if he planned his move. "For the last couple of shootouts, I've thought about doing something before I went. But I just went down there and made a move and got lucky five hole."

After Charlotte responded with back-to-back goals, Jacob Josefson sprang Anderson for a breakaway. Anderson went high blocker at 4:14 of the third. The assist was Josefson's first AHL point ‚¬" he was returned on loan to Albany from New Jersey before the game.

"Hockey is a game of momentum," Anderson said. "There are overwhelming statistics that show that once one goal is scored, a second usually follows shortly after. The shifts before and after the period and the shifts after goals are huge. It's an emotional rollercoaster."

For the Checkers, Nicolas Blanchard started the scoring on a Devils' defensive miscue behind the net at 4:04 of the first.

Chris Terry gave the team its second lead of the day, 2-1, when he snuck one past Jeff Frazee at 18:23 of the second. Then Jerome Samson took over the league lead for goals with his 20th of the season, coming at 3:53 of the third.

Albany, which is now 13-20-0-3 on the season, received 23 saves on 26 shots by Frazee. He made nine saves in the first, five in the second and nine in the third. The win went to Pogge, who earned first star of the game accolades.

The Devils are back at it again on Saturday, Jan. 8 when Syracuse comes to town for a 7 p.m. contest. Tickets can be purchased at the Times Union Center box office. Fans can also obtain tickets by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or online at ticketmaster.com.



American Hockey League Stories from January 7, 2011


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.

OurSports Central