Devils Slip Past Albany 1-0

December 30, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


ALBANY, NY - River Rats forward Mike Angelidis had a late goal controversially disallowed, while Devils defenseman Anssi Salmela scored the game-winning goal as the Lowell Devils beat the Albany River Rats 1-0 Tuesday night at the Times Union Center.

The Devils out-shot Albany 11-8 in the first period, however, neither team found the net. Power plays for both sides created a few good scoring opportunities, but Lowell's Jeff Frazee and Albany's Justin Peters stopped everything that came their way and both headed to the dressing rooms with clean sheets.

Back-to-back penalties at the start of the second period gave the Devils three minutes and 42 seconds of continuous power play action, including 18 seconds of five-on-three play, but the River Rats defensive unit killed the attack soundly. Albany's strong defensive play brought their home crowd into the game, which gave the team some energy, but the River Rats attackers could not turn the momentum into points at the other end of the ice. Towards the end of the frame Albany had an extended man-advantage of their own, as the Devils were tagged with four straight minor penalties, but again the story of the period was the play of the net-minders as the horn would sound with both teams in a scoreless draw.

The River Rats came out of the locker room eager to get the puck to the net in the third period, out-shooting Lowell 7-1 through the first five minutes play. However, it was the Devils who struck first when defenseman Anssi Salmela scored the game's first and only goal at 6:18 of the third period. Off of an offensive zone face off, Salmela from defensive partner Matthew Spiller and center Michael Swift and blasted in his fifth goal of the year. With three and a half minutes remaining in the game Albany thought that they had found the equalizer as Mike Angelidis took the rebound from his own wrap-around shot and appeared to have slid the puck under Frazee and over the goal line. The red light came on, but the referee quickly overruled the goal-judge and signaled that the puck had not crossed the line. Albany had a number of close opportunities during the final minute of play with Peters on the bench for the extra attacker, but the Rats could not send the game into extra time.

Rookie goaltender Jeff Frazee stopped all 36 shots faced to earn the shutout as the Devils improved to 17-4-1-3 on the season. River Rats goalie Justin Peters was excellent as he allowed just one goal on 23 shots, but took the loss as Albany fell to 11-17-3-2. The River Rats out-shot the Lowell 36-23 in the game and both teams went 0-for-5 on the power play.

Albany will hit the road on New Years' Eve as they travel to Binghamton for a 6:05 pm face off with the Senators on Wednesday, December 31st at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. The River Rats will return home on Friday, January 2nd as they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for an important East Division match up at 7:00 pm at the Times Union Center.



American Hockey League Stories from December 30, 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.

OurSports Central