Devils Sweep Weekend, Crunch Elmira, 5-2
March 28, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL)
Trenton Devils News Release
Trenton, NJ - The Devils scored five goals for the second game in a row, completing the three game weekend sweep of the Jackals with a convincing 5-2 victory Sunday at SunCenter. Jeff Prough and Matt Vokes each scored two goals while Dave Caruso made 34 saves for his third consecutive win this weekend. Prough's three-point performance gives him 30 goals on the season, the second time the three-year professional has reached that milestone. Vokes' tallies now give him 20 in his rookie season. The defensive effort was led by Andy Thomas, a +3 for the game, the only player better than +1.
Familiarity breeds contempt in the case of the Devils and Jackals, as nearly every player from each team engaged in a pregame scuffle, featuring Kevin Cormier and Brennan Turner. Words and blows were exchanged with no officials on the ice to cool things down. Though the teams eventually separated, Cormier and Alex Dzielski settled the matter just three seconds into the game, dropping the gloves in a bout decisively won by Cormier, his third fight in as many games.
The Jackals' aggression got the better of them just two minutes after the opening tangle. Vokes quickly capitalized on the first man-advantage of the game, the result of Olivier Proulx illegally slashing Caruso. Uncovered on the left wing doorstep, Vokes took a hard Dan Eves' pass from the deep right for the stuff and a 1-0 Devils lead at 1:42, with Jack Combs getting the secondary helper.
An energetic forecheck from Jeremy Akeson created the Devils second score, with the veteran making a steal deep in the left wing corner and then finding Dan Eves all alone in front. Eves' quick backhand deke to the right guided the puck through the legs of Julien Ellis and gave the Devils a 2-0 edge and Eves' 19th of the season at 14:35. It was the final tally of the period, though the Jackals were denied on as glorious chance moments later thanks to a diving effort from Caruso, desperately and magically sticking the puck away from an otherwise open net.
After warding off consistent Elmira pressure for the first couple minutes of the second, the Devils found themselves on an odd-man rush into the offensive zone led by Jeff Prough. His first shot from halfway down the slot was stopped by Ellis, as was a second chance from Slavomir Tomko at close range, but Prough on the third chance 10 feet up the slot fired past a bewildered Ellis and the Devils had a 3-0 lead at 2:33 of the second.
A strong Devils forecheck to keep the puck in the offensive zone gave the team a 4-0 lead at 12:46 of the second. On a pass to the slot from Tim Kunes below the goal line, Prough rang the puck off the right post. Vokes was at the right spot at the right time once again and used a spin-o-rama to beat Ellis for his second of the game and 20th on the season.
Sandwiched in between two goals by Thomas Beauregard at 15:50 of the second and the game's final goal at 18:43 of the third, Prough scored his 30th of the season on a smooth play into the offensive zone on a pass from Combs. Moving in on a two-on-one with Vokes, Prough faked a pass to the left wing, gaining room on his defender. With a nifty toe-drag and a deke to the right, Prough stepped around the defenseman and wired a shot across Ellis' right shoulder for his 30th of the season.
With the Jackals shorthanded twice in the latter portion of the third, Trenton secured the 5-2 win, the 10th win in 13 meetings with Elmira this season. With their fourth straight win, the Devils (32-29-4-5, 73pts) remain three points behind Toledo, who defeated the Kalamazoo Wings Sunday, 6-3, and Reading, who lost to Charlotte, 2-1, in a shootout. Trenton's only hope to make the playoffs is by winning both of its remaining games, and hoping either Reading or Toledo lose each of their three remaining contests. On Wednesday, Reading plays in Elmira and Toledo visits Johnstown; if both teams earn a point the Devils would be out of contention. The Devils host Elmira (35-25-6-3, 79pts) once again Friday, April 2, and travel to Reading Saturday for the last game of the regular season.
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