Jim Henkel's four-point night powers Trenton in must-win contest

Published on March 21, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Trenton Devils News Release


TRENTON, NJ (March 21, 2008) - Faced with the possibility of dropping out of the playoff hunt, the Trenton Devils responded with a 7-2 victory over the team they trail for the final postseason bid, the Dayton Bombers.

Jim Henkel fired in two goals and helped on two others for his second four-point night of the season. The Garden State product opened the contest with a power play goal in the first, and earned his second tally with a deflection of a Ryan Gunderson slapper in the second.

The alternate captain would also assist on goals by Trevor Kell and Colin Pepperall. Henkel's last quartet of points also came against Dayton, at the Nutter Center on January 19th.

With the win Trenton moves to within seven points of Dayton for the fifth and final playoff spot in the North Division. While the Bombers have a game-in-hand against the Devils, they have lost eight of their past nine contests.

After Dayton tied the game in the first period, Kell would knock down a Gunderson drive to bounce the puck through Jeremy Duchesne's legs. The forward's sixteenth of the season gave Trenton a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

The Devils would then score four straight goals to open the second period, the first of which came off a ripper by Joe Rooney 1:04 in. The rookie entered the attacking zone with speed before snapping a riser into the top left corner of the net.

Henkel's team-leading 22nd goal would come next, following less than two minutes later.

Colin Pepperall broke back onto the scoresheet with his second point of the night at the 13:39 mark. The eleven-year veteran tore through two defenders at the Dayton blue line and wristed the rubber into the cage for his seventh goal of the season.

It would then be Tony Zancanaro's turn to notch two goals, scoring the final pair for Trenton. The center potted both tallies on the power play, the first of which found the top-left shelf from his position in the slot.

The native of Trenton, MI finished the game's scoring by giving Trenton, NJ its highest-scoring game of the season. The Devils' seventh marker was lifted by Zancanaro over a sprawled-out Duchesne, who had just stopped a Matt Cohen attempt on the doorstep.

The Devils went four-for-six on the power play, matching the high-water mark for the team set against Elmira on January 25th. Trenton also stymied Dayton on five of six of the Bombers' chances.

Trenton had a 19-penalty kill streak entering the game which was snapped by the Bombers' first tally. However, the Devils are now 41/46 on the kill over their last eleven contests, an 89.1% clip.

Jason Smith had another great night in net, stopping 37 of Dayton's 39 shots and earning the third star. The netminder has a goals-against average of 0.80 over his last five games.

With the victory Trenton wins the season-set against the Bombers with a 6-4-0 record. That record could be important should the two teams tie at the end of the season, as head-to-head points are the second tiebreak decider.

The Trenton Devils head out of Sovereign Bank Arena for their final road trip of the season, a four-game set which begins tomorrow, March 22nd against the Reading Royals at 7:05pm. Tune into WTSR 91.3 or go online to www.trentondevils.com and listen or watch live courtesy of B2 Networks.

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ECHL Stories from March 21, 2008


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