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Devils Sink Admirals

February 22, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany Devils News Release


ALBANY, NY - For the first 35 minutes, the Albany Devils and Norfolk Admirals looked like two teams sharing poll position in the Eastern Conference. Then the Devils took control, gliding to a 4-1 victory Saturday at Times Union Center.

The Devils and Admirals entered the contest tied for seventh in the conference. Coming off a 4-2 win at Adirondack Friday, the Devils now have 64 points with a 28-17-3-5 mark. Norfolk has 62 points with a 27-17-1-7 record.

"These are four point games now," said Head Coach Rick Kowalsky. "You take a step above them and especially with some of these conference games that's our last shot at them. They're a tough team to play against and I thought we were night and day better tonight than we were last night."

For the second straight game, Stefan Matteau and Mike Sislo both scored. Reid Boucher was responsible for the team's third goal and Kelly Zajac scored into an empty net.

Keith Kinkaid earned his third consecutive win and 20th of the season. He made 25 saves, including 10 in the first, six in the second and nine in the third.

Offensively, Matteau, who has 11 goals this year, started the scoring on a give-and-go play with Adam Larsson at 4:38 of the first. Norfolk's Norm Ezekiel tied the game at 18:09 of the second period.

Sislo broke the stalemate on the power play with a wrister from the left circle over the shoulder of netminder Viktor Fasth at 14:15.

Boucher picked the same corner to make it a 3-1 game at 18:01 of the same period.

"I thought we took the period over and certainly got some momentum," Kowalsky said. "It was good to see us rewarded on the power play and then get that third one."

Eric Gelinas and Joe Whitney registered assists on Sislo's 16th tally, while Boucher's 13th goal was unassisted.

Albany, which owned a 33-26 shot advantage, improved to 15-7-2-0 at Times Union Center.

"We just always come out and play a hard game at home," Boucher said. "They're a hard team to play against and we played the right way. We just bear down at home."

The Devils conclude their three-in-three weekend with a 3 pm outing against the Utica Comets Sunday at Times Union Center. Fans are invited to stick around for a postgame autograph session and a postgame skate.



American Hockey League Stories from February 22, 2014


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