Devils earn first win streak of the year in impressive wins over division rivals

December 15, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Trenton Devils News Release


TRENTON, N.J. -- The Trenton Devils swept the weekend with a 2-1 win at home over the Johnstown Chiefs on Friday and a 3-2 win on the road against the Elmira Jackals Sunday afternoon. The Devils have three games coming up this week with a pair of home games against the Reading Royals and a road contest to lead into the Christmas break against the Wheeling Nailers.

DEVILS CHOP CHIEFS: The Trenton Devils defeated the American Conference North Division leaders, the Johnstown Chiefs, by the score of 2-1 at Sovereign Bank Arena Friday night. Trenton broke through 7:54 into the game when Matt Radoslovich banged in a rebound from a Jeff Prough shot. Fellow New Jersey native Jim Henkel followed up at 4:17 into the second when he deflected in a Matt Cohen shot on the power play to put the Devils up by a pair. Mike Bartlett scored the Chiefs' only goal of the contest at 12:11 on a wrist shot from the point. After that, Charlie Effinger put on a show, stopping all 13 of the Chiefs' shots in the third period for a total of 29 saves in the game. The win was Effinger's third in a row, the longest streak by a T-Devil this season.

DEVILS TAME JACKALS: Trevor Kell's late power play goal and an outstanding job by the Trenton penalty kill made for a special Sunday afternoon in Elmira, as the Devils beat the Jackals, 3-2, at First Arena. The Jackals went on the board with 37 seconds remaining in the first, as Josh Aspenlind scored a slam dunk goal off an odd-man rush. A hard, clean check by Kell on Bruce Watson swung the momentum Trenton's way in the second period, and the Devils responded with Tyler Burton's power play goal at 8:49. Burton's ninth goal of the season tied the game. The Devils took the lead at 17:22 on an odd-man rush of their own, with Ryan Gunderson finishing the job on a wrist shot from the slot. The Jackals had numerous opportunities to tie the game in the third with six power play chances. However, the equalizer came at even strength, as Wes Cunningham fired a one-timer past Jason Smith at 12:41. The Devils would have their chance to win thanks to a late penalty by Benoit Doucet. With 1:33 left to play, Kell scored the game-winning goal as his shot from in front of the net trickled past Mitch O'Keefe. Smith picked up his first win of the season for Trenton, stopping 26 of Elmira's 28 shots. The Devils special teams were superb, going 2-for-7 on the power play and killing all 11 of Elmira's power plays. Kell and Burton each had a goal and an assist for the Devils.

KILLING IS OUR BUSINESS: The Devils took care of business against the Jackals by killing 11 power plays, which is the fourth-best mark in team history. The Devils set a new team record for perfection on the PK, as the 11-for-11 mark was the best penalty killing performance in team history. The previous mark was 10-for-10, done against the Reading Royals in the 2002-03 season.

QUICK HITS: The ECHL announced earlier in the week that the Devils would play Wheeling and Reading to make up for the games lost in Augusta and Charlotte during the month of March...Trenton defenseman Matt Torti made his professional debut Friday night.

UPCOMING GAMES

Friday, December 19, 7:30 p.m. -- Devils vs. Reading Royals

Saturday, December 20, 7:00 p.m. -- Devils vs. Reading Royals

The Trenton Devils will have a double dip against the Royals at Sovereign Bank Arena this weekend. The Devils have won the last two games against the Royals, and the road team has won each of the three contests between the two clubs. Recent Royals addition Max Taylor scored a goal in each of the first three games with his new club, including a hat trick against Elmira on Wednesday night. The Devils won, 1-0, in the last meeting against the Royals, as Gerald Coleman pitched a shutout in his Trenton debut.

Sunday, December 21, 6:05 p.m. -- Devils at Wheeling Nailers

The Devils face the Nailers for the fourth time this season, all of the matchups being in West Virginia. The Nailers have won two out of the three meetings against the Devils. Wheeling has four active players with 23 points or more, including leading point-scorer Aaron Clarke (8g+20a=28p) and top goal-scorer Rob Sirianni (14g+13a=27p). Sirianni is the league leader with 1.80 points-per-game.

Practice/Game Schedule:

Tuesday, December 16 -- Practice @ Sovereign Bank Arena -- 10:30 a.m.

Wednesday, December 17 -- Practice @ Sovereign Bank Arena -- 10:30 a.m.

Thursday, December 18 -- Practice @ Sovereign Bank Arena -- 10:30 a.m.

Friday, December 19 -- Pre-game skate @ Sovereign Bank Arena -- 10:00 a.m.

Game vs. Reading

Saturday, December 20 -- Pre-game skate @ Sovereign Bank Arena -- 10:00 a.m.

Game vs. Reading

Travel to Wheeling

Sunday, December 21 -- Game @ Wheeling -- 6:05 p.m.

Return to Trenton

Monday, December 22 -- Day off

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 15, 2008


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