Four Late Strikes Wedge Nailers Through Devils, 6-4
January 23, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Trenton Devils News Release
Trenton, NJ - In less than two minutes, Trenton's feel-good performance was shattered and its 4-2 lead evaporated. Wheeling scored four times in the last five minutes of the third period Saturday to defeat a shell-shocked Devils club, 6-4. Nearly 3000 fans at Sun National Bank Center witnessed the home team's stunning demise in a virtual blink of an eye, Trenton's eighth loss in nine games.
Nick Petersen's second and third goals of the evening pulled Wheeling within 4-3 and then into a 4-4 deadlock at 15:29 and 16:02 of the third. Kelly Miller pounded home the go-ahead score at 17:04 and Casey Pierro-Zabotel added one for good measure at 17:17 to push the Nailers' lead to 6-4. The ferocious comeback began with a power play for Wheeling when Dave Leaderer was called for roughing at 15:23, and the Nailers converted with the extra man for the third time of the night, with each power play goal coming less than 10 seconds into the advantage.
Through the first 55 minutes of regulation, Trenton was solid and on the verge of tying the three-game weekend series with Wheeling. Tony Zancanaro capped a three point night with a goal at 7:48 of the third, but the 4-2 cushion was not enough.
Zancanaro had opened the scoring on the power play with a wrist shot through a screen and past goalie Peter Delmas which gave the Devils a 1-0 lead 8:54 into the game. It was the Trenton, Michigan native's fourth goal of the season as the Devils jumped out to an early lead for the second consecutive night against Wheeling. Less than three minutes later, Andy Thomas bumped the Devils' lead to 2-0 with a long wrist shot from the blue line through traffic that found its way past Delmas. Trevor Kell and Zancanaro picked up helpers on Thomas' second goal of the season at the 11:39 mark of the first period.
Awarded a power play late in the period, Joey Haddad redirected a Mike Gershon point shot past Jeff Lerg for his twelfth goal of the season just six seconds into the man advantage.
Devils Captain Trevor Kell netted his eighth goal of the season 7:47 into the second period to extend the Trenton lead to 3-1. Kell picked up a loose puck in front of Delmas and quickly backhanded a shot to the back of the net to reclaim a two-goal edge. Five minutes later, Wheeling again made quick work of a power play, as Nick Petersen hit the twenty goal mark by jamming the puck through Lerg's legs following a point shot from Kyle Bushee.
Trenton protected a one goal lead into the third, something they couldn't do in Friday's 4-3 road loss to Wheeling. Zancanaro's second power play score, this time redirecting a Brad Miller wrist shot out of mid-air, extended the Devils lead to 4-2. Meanwhile, Zancanaro and company continued to support Lerg between the pipes - until the closing minutes. The rookie goaltender, making his first appearance for Trenton since November 24 because of injury, faced only 15 shots through two periods, but the flurry in the final, fateful moments overwhelmed all.
The Devils and Nailers play the final game of their three-night, three-city tour Sunday at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall at 4 p.m.
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