Late Goal Sinks Devils
January 25, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany Devils News Release
ALBANY, NY - The low-scoring contest between the Albany Devils and Adirondack Phantoms appeared to be heading into overtime Saturday at Times Union Center. Then the puck popped loose to Adirondack's Jason Akeson, who finished his opportunity with 20.5 seconds remaining to give his team a 2-1 victory.
"He fanned on it and it was a knuckler," said Head Coach Rick Kowalsky describing the winning tally. "We have to protect the middle of the ice there. I think a little bit of our fatigue came into factor and we just looked at it."
The Devils were coming off a loss at Binghamton Friday and had a quick turnaround for the 2 pm game which drew 5,681 fans. Albany moves to 23-13-3-3 overall, while Adirondack improves to 21-17-0-2.
"I thought we played a good game for the most part, we did a lot of good things and I think they played a good game as well," said winger Mike Sislo. "It was kind of what we were expecting: a good game by both teams, a low-scoring game, and a game of few mistakes."
Sislo ended the Devils five-game power-play goal draught when his shot at 19:08 of the first period picked the upper right corner. Reid Boucher moved the to puck point-man Adam Larsson, who found Sislo in the high slot.
"We kind of got on them a little bit," Kowalsky said about the power-play unit. "I think it's just been our execution; we're a little stagnant, but I thought we moved it around and got some better looks. There's still room for improvement, but there's no question getting a goal can get you a little bit of confidence."
Nearly 20 minutes after the game's first goal, Adirondack's Tye McGinn redirected Marc-Andre Bourdon's shot at 18:51 to tie the game.
It took another 20 minutes until Akeson netted the winner with assists from Petr Straka and Rob Bordson.
Scott Wedgewood made 20 saves for Albany, while Cal Heeter made 27 saves for the Phantoms.
The Devils return to action Sunday with a 3 pm outing against the Binghamton Senators at Times Union Center. Fans are encouraged to participate in the postgame autograph session and postgame skate.
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