Sports stats



Thriller in Trenton Won in Shootout by Gwinnett, 4-3

February 26, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Trenton Devils News Release


Trenton, NJ - The Trenton Devils erased a 3-0 third period deficit to force overtime before succumbing in a shootout that went eight rounds as Matt Duffy fired a shot that trickled through Shane Connelly's legs as the Gwinnett Gladiators swept the two-game weekend series from the Devils. Pat Galivan, John-Scott Dickson and former Devil Kyle Kucharski scored goals for Gwinnett in regulation as they opened a comfortable 3-0 lead through the third period before Trenton stormed back with three unanswered goals of their own. Ryan Ginand tipped in a Trevor Kell shot to get Trenton on the board, Ryan Hayes scored for the Devils to cut the deficit to 3-2, and Tony Zancanaro scored his eighth goal of the season with 33 seconds left to play to force the extra period.

Galivan opened the scoring midway through the first period by winning an offensive zone faceoff, and getting a deflected puck off Ian McKenzie's skate and beating Shane Connelly on a broken play in front of the net. It was Galivan's 11th goal of the season, giving the Gladiators a 1-0 lead. Kucharski scored his first goal of the season by jamming in a loose puck past Connelly to double the Glads lead to 2-0.

Late in the period, Ryan Hayes took an elbow to the head from Danick Paquette and as Hayes fell to the ice, teammate Myles Stoesz jumped to his defense by pounding Paquette to the ice in retaliation for the hit which earned Paquette a game misconduct and a major for elbowing. Stoesz picked up an instigator minor for initiating the fight, but the Devils couldn't score on the resulting three-minute man advantage.

After Dickson gave Gwinnett a 3-0 cushion with another power play goal, the Devils blitzed goaltender Edward Pasquale and turned the 3-0 deficit into an exciting final ten minutes. Ryan Ginand got it started for Trenton, deflecting a long range shot from Trevor Kell at the blue line, evading Pasquale's glove and giving the Devils their first power play goal against Gwinnett this season after going 0-for their first-29.

Ryan Hayes hit the twenty goal plateau by roofing a wraparound shot past a rattled past Pasquale to get the Devils within a goal, down 3-2 with plenty of time left to pressure the young goaltender. With Gladiator captain Sam Roberts in the penalty box for interference and Shane Connelly on the bench for an extra attacker, Tony Zancanaro backhanded a loose puck into a half-empty net to tie the game and complete the comeback. It was Trenton's second consecutive power play marker after being unable to crack the Gladiator penalty kill in the previous eleven and a half periods.

The two teams played an inspired overtime period but Pasquale denied all eight Devils shots in the extra period to send the game into a shootout. Brad Miller, Hayes and Matt Lombardi scored on the Devils first three attempts, setting them up with a 3-1 advantage and a chance to close out the comeback but Gwinnett answered with three straight goals of their own against Connelly to send the shootout into extra rounds.

Pasquale and Connelly shut the door two times each before Matt Duffy fired a shot that Connelly got a large chunk of but could not completely stop as the puck trickled over the goal line.

The Devils salvaged a point in the shootout loss and now sit at 21-30-1-4 with 47 points, trailing Elmira and Gwinnett by eight points for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Devils head to Elmira for a 4:05 p.m. showdown with the Jackals on Sunday.

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from February 26, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Trenton Devils Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central