Lowell Takes Two Of Three Again

Published on January 12, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany Devils News Release


The Lowell Devils took two out of three decisions for the second straight week, but fell into third place in the Atlantic Division. Playing their first-ever regular season game at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, the Devils skated past the Hartford Wolf Pack, 3-2, on Wednesday. Lowell fell, 3-2, in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday, but rebounded with a 3-2 victory at Binghamton on Saturday. Now owning a record of 23-15-3-0, the idle Devils saw the Worcester Sharks leapfrog into second place in the standings on Sunday.

Lowell prepares this week for its second four-game, five-day stretch of the season. The Devils open on Tuesday in Portland before returning home to face the Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday. Lowell heads north on Friday to take on the Manchester Monarchs and then hosts the Pirates on Saturday afternoon at the Tsongas Arena.

Rewind:

Wednesday, DEVILS 3 vs. Wolf Pack 2

Nick Palmieri scored twice, including the game-winner with 59.3 seconds left in regulation, to help Lowell defeat Hartford, 3-2, at the Prudential Center. Matt Taormina's power play goal and Palmieri's first of the game came over a span of four minutes early in the second period. Paul Crowder and Dale Weise knotted the score in the third for the Wolf Pack before Palmieri beat Steve Valiquette for the game-winner. Jeff Frazee made 28 saves in the win.

Friday, Devils 2 vs. PENGUINS 3

Dustin Jeffrey's go-ahead goal with 2:07 left in regulation gave the Penguins a 3-2 victory over the Devils at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza. After Stephen Gionta had put Lowell ahead by one at 7:33 of the third, Eric Tangradi knotted the score on the power play less than five minutes later. Ben Walter and Konstantin Pushkarev traded goals in the first period for the Devils and Penguins, respectively.

Saturday, Devils 3 vs. SENATORS 2

Mike McKenna turned aside 47 shots - including all 25 he faced in the third period - as Lowell edged Binghamton, 3-2, at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. Michael Swift broke a scoreless tie 53 seconds into the second, while Nathan Perkovich made it a two-goal lead at 5:31 on the power play. Patrick Davis provided the eventual game-winner with six minutes left before the second intermission. Brandon Svendsen twice pulled the Senators within a goal with his first multi-goal game of the year.

Around the Horns

The Devils' 22-15-3-0 record at the halfway point of the season schedule was an all-time franchise best...Friday's loss to Wilkes-Barre was Lowell's first in regulation when scoring first on the road (7-1-1-1)...Lowell ended Binghamton's streak of nine straight games scoring a power play goal...The Devils were outshot 54-20 in third period over three games last week...Lowell has the second-best first period goal differential in the AHL at +17 (42-27)...Matt Taormina leads all AHL rookies and defensemen with 19 power play points (6g-13a)...Mike McKenna stopped a team season high 47 shots on Saturday, including a league season best 25 in the third period.&n! bsp;

Coming Up

The Devils face the Pirates for the fourth and fifth meetings in the eight-game season series. Portland is currently tied for fifth place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 19-14-5-2. First-year pro Tyler Ennis (12g-26a) is tied with Mark Mancari (17g-21a) for the team lead with 38 points, while also ranking second among AHL rookies in scoring. Mancari is on a five-game point streak that has seen him post five goals and five assists. The Devils are 1-1-1-0 this season against the Pirates.

Syracuse comes to town on Wednesday for the first-ever contest between the Devils and Crunch. Syracuse has recorded points in six of its last seven games (4-1-1-1), but remains in seventh place in the East Division at 14-19-3-3. The Crunch are 1-0-0-2 against the Atlantic Division this season with their lone win coming at home against Hartford on Nov. 21. Syracuse has the AHL's worst defense at 3.67 goals allowed per game.

Lowell renews its rivalry with Manchester on Friday at the Verizon Wireless Arena. The Devils took a 3-2 lead in the season series with a 5-2 win in Manchester on New Year's Eve. The Monarchs sit in first place in the division standings and have one of the league's best home records at 15-4-0-2. Two of Manchester's four losses at home have come at the hands of the Devils. Lowell is 10-6-0-2 all-time on the road versus Manchester.

Transactions

Jan. 6, 2010 - D Matt Corrente and RW Vladimir Zharkov returned on loan from New Jersey (NHL).

Jan. 7, 2010 - D Matt Corrente and RW Vladimir Zharkov recalled from loan by New Jersey (NHL).

C Kory Nagy reassigned by New Jersey (NHL) from Trenton (ECHL).

Upcoming Promotions/In the Community

Wednesday, Jan. 13

Devil Dawg will be saying hello to the students at St. Augustine's School in Andover, MA from 11:45AM - 1:00PM.

Friday, Jan. 15

Devil Dawg will be greeting the students at the Birch Meadow School in Reading, MA from 7:45AM - 8:30AM.

Saturday, Jan. 16 vs. Portland Pirates

The first 2,000 fans in attendance will receive a Ben Walter Bobblehead, courtesy of the Courtyard Marriott - Lowell/Chelmsford.

Leaders for Lowell

Goals: Nick Palmieri (14)

Assists: Matt Taormina (18)

Points: Ben Walter (29)

PIM: Louis Robitaille (169)

Plus/Minus: Tyler Eckford (+14)

Wins: Mike McKenna (13)

GAA: Mike McKenna (2.31)

Save %: Mike McKenna (.927)



American Hockey League Stories from January 12, 2010


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