Devils Lose in Closing Seconds to Bruins
December 30, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany Devils News Release
ALBANY, NY -- Ethan Werek's Hail Mary slap shot from just inside the blueline found the back of the net, lifting the Providence Bruins to a 3-2 victory against the Albany Devils. The goal with 4.9 seconds remaining spoiled a Devils third period comeback Tuesday at Times Union Center.
Both teams played with depleted lineups: the Devils played with two fewer forwards than normal and the Bruins played with a man short.
"We didn't play a smart hockey game," said Head Coach Rick Kowalsky. "We needed more from guys tonight and we didn't get it. They had a depleted lineup -- they dressed one short. So match-up wise, we can't make excuses."
"They were short too," said captain Rod Pelley. "A lot of their guys are injured and we're in the same boat basically, so, at the end of the day, it's about playing very hard, but also playing very smart. I think they won the battle and that's not saying we weren't prepared or we weren't ready for the game; we definitely were. We just have to execute our game plan and we're going to learn from it."
Despite the loss, Scott Wedgewood turned aside a career-high 42 saves. The Devils netminder was busy in his fourth consecutive start, making 13 stops in the first, 11 in the second and 18 in the third.
While Pelley registered his third goal of the season, Reid Boucher registered his 10th and extended his goal streak to five games. He also extended his league-leading point streak to seven games (6g-2a).
His tally came with just 0.4 showing on the second period clock. Darcy Zajac won an offensive-zone faceoff back to Boucher who snapped a wrister into the upper-left corner to tie the game, 1-1.
The Bruins moved ahead when Andrew Ammon scored at 3:46 of the third. David Warsofsky skated the puck along the blueline and then sent the puck toward Ammon's stick in front of Wedgewood. The initial bid was stopped, but Ammon scored on the put back.
Pelley pulled Albany even for the second time at 14:43. Cam Janssen moved the puck out of the Albany end and Ben Johnson gained the offensive zone. He turned and fired the puck towards the net and the Devils captain was in front for the redirect.
The game appeared to be heading into overtime, especially with a face-off in the Bruins end with 29.5 seconds left. But Providence worked the puck out of their end and Colin Stuart found Werek for the blast at the left point.
"Hockey works in funny ways," Pelley said. "Maybe we didn't deserve two points tonight and we didn't get it."
The shot was Providence's 45th of the game -- the most the Devils have allowed this season.
"I thought he was solid and kept us in there," Kowalsky said of Wedgewood's workload. "Obviously, the last one, I don't know if Baier tipped it. It shouldn't even be shot on net. I'm sure he would have liked that one back that far out and with that amount of time left, but that might be the highest shot total we had all year."
Notes
Albany moved to 14-11-2-4, while Providence improved to 16-13-3-0 ... Reid Boucher netted his 35th career goal and his 60th career point ... Rod Pelley netted his 53rd career goal ...Darcy Zajac posted his sixth point of the season and first since Dec. 5 ... Cam Janssen registered his second point of the season and first since Oct. 18 ... Scott Wedgewood is now 5-6-2 ... Prior to the game, New Jersey recalled right winger Mike Sislo from Albany and Albany recalled right winger Myles Bell from Evansville (ECHL) ... During the 2014 calendar year, Albany went 35-26-5-10 ... Albany and Providence split the season series, 1-1. All-time the Devils are 26-18-2-7 with a 15-9-0-3 home mark.
Next Up
The Devils conclude their three-game homestand with a 7 pm outing against the Syracuse Crunch Friday at Times Union Center. The contest is the fourth of eight between the two clubs and Albany is 0-1-1-1. Fans can follow the action online or on mobile devices at ahllive.com.
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