Devils Take Preseason Opener in OT
October 9, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Trenton Devils News Release
Elmira, NY, October 9, 2009 - In a game filled with extra-man opportunities, the Devils opened their exhibition schedule Friday night with a 6-5 overtime win over the Jackals in Elmira. Dan Eves scored the game winner on a breakaway at 2:16 of the extra period. Eves' goal was one of only three even strength scores in the game, compared with seven power play goals and one shorthanded goal.
Trenton's first power play of the preseason began at 2:05 of the first period after a high-sticking penalty to Jean-Francois David. The unit comprised of forwards Trevor Kell, Mike Harder and Scott Bartlett with blueliners Andy Thomas and Justin Pender, executed the power play to perfection. It took only nineteen seconds to set up a play, cycling on the left side of the zone as Harder passed to Kell who fed it back for a laser shot from Pender which beat Elmira goalie Michael-Lee Teslak to give the Devils a 1-0 lead.
Elmira evened the scoring with a power play goal of its own. The Donati twins, Tyler and Justin, who combined for five points on the night, each had a hand in tying the game. Justin scored on the one-time blast from the left wing circle, getting a pass from David with a secondary assist to Tyler Donati to make it a 1-1 game.
The Devils took the lead back five and a half minutes later. It came 31 seconds into a five-on-three power play, with Pender again using his high powered shot to beat Teslak. This goal was a one-timer as Tim Kunes passed back and forth with the six-foot-four, 210 pound defenseman along the blue line, and finally Pender let loose the lefty blast for his second score of the game.
In the second period, the Devils extended their lead taking advantage of a turnover behind the Elmira goal. Jon Howse came up with the puck and quickly got it to Scott Bartlett near the right post. Bartlett snuck it past Teslak and the Devils led 3-1.
Wes Cunningham netted a power play goal at 6:25 to pull the Jackals to within a goal, but Jon Howse turned the power play against the Elmira, scoring a shorthanded goal with assists from Thomas and Kell. The Devils held a 4-2 lead late in the second.
Elmira had another power play goal before the period expired, with Tyler Donati picking up his second point of the game on a goal assisted by Cunningham and Ben Wright. Less than a minute into the third, the Jackals scored their only even strength goal of the game with Olivier Proulx tying the score at 4-4. Jeff Prough took the lead back for Trenton with the Devils' third power play goal with assists from Matt Torti and Thomas, and the Devils led 5-4 at 4:26 in the third. Tyler Donati notched his second goal of the game on a power play just two minutes later to retie the score at 5.
The game remained knotted up through the remainder of regulation, as the Devils needed to kill off two more Elmira power plays. In overtime, seconds after an Elmira shot hit the post, the Devils' Mike Harder turned the puck up ice to Dan Eves. As Eves and Harder crossed the blue line with a two-on-one break, Eves fired it past Teslak on the short side to give Trenton the 6-5 victory.
The Devils play their second and final preseason game Sunday in Reading at 5:05pm. Trenton opens the regular season at home with a pair of games against the Kalamazoo Wings, October 17 at 7 p.m. and October 18 at 4 p.m.
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ECHL Stories from October 9, 2009
- Devils Take Preseason Opener in OT - Trenton Devils
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