Trenton Devils Weekly

Published on December 1, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Trenton Devils News Release


TRENTON, NJ (December 1, 2008) -- The Trenton Devils earned points in all four of their games in the previous week by going 2-0-1-1, their best week of the season. The Devils will get some much needed rest before playing the Florida Everblades at home on Friday and going on the road to play the Elmira Jackals on Saturday.

COLEMAN BLANKS READING IN DEBUT: Gerald Coleman made an immediate impact for the Trenton Devils as he turned aside 29 shots to pick up his second shutout of the season and give the Devils a 1-0 win over the Reading Royals Wednesday night. The only goal of the game came on the power play for Trenton, as Jim Henkel banked in a rebound off the back of Royals goaltender Danny Taylor at the 14:20 mark of the second period. Trenton's penalty kill performed well by stopping all six of Reading's power plays, and Coleman made several fantastic saves to earn his first shutout as a Devil.

CHIEFS COME BACK TO BEAT DEVILS: A goal by Ryan Del Monte with 30 seconds remaining in regulation and Petr Pohl's shootout winner in round 11 gave the Johnstown Chiefs a comeback 3-2 win over the Devils Friday night. Andrew Sarauer notched his tenth goal of the season to put the Chiefs on the board 3:56 into the contest. The Devils tied the game at 17:50 of the second on Jeff Prough's power play goal, his fourth of the season. Jeremy Akeson gave the Devils a 2-1 lead 11 seconds into the third with a wrist shot from the blueline that eluded Chiefs goalie Kris Mayotte. The Devils appeared on the verge of winning until Chris Poli took a slashing penalty with 2:30 remaining and Gerald Coleman exited the game after injuring himself on the Johnstown ice surface with 1:37 to go. Charlie Effinger came in the game and gave up the tying goal, and held his own in the shootout until Pohl put in the game winner.

DEVILS UPSET EVERBLADES: A rematch of the 2005 Kelly Cup Finals produced the same result as Trenton defeated the Florida Everblades, 7-6, in an exciting game at Sovereign Bank Arena Saturday night. With the Devils down 5-2 going into the second period, Dave Leaderer's slap shot from the point trickled past David Leggio 49 seconds into the frame to put the Devils within two. Chris Poli then scored his second of the game at the 5:51 mark to make it a 5-4 game, and his former Brown teammate Jeff Prough tied the game on the power play at 11:08 of the second. In the third period, the Everblades re-gained the lead with a hat trick goal by Jacob Macflikier 32 seconds in. The Devils later had a man advantage of their own and capitalized, as Tyler Burton tied the game with his second goal of the night at 5:39. Burton became the hat trick hero as he gave the Devils the lead with 5:46 left in regulation, banging in a rebound from a Dan Eves shot. It was the first three-goal game of his career, and gave the Devils a 7-6 win to snap Florida's 10-game winning streak.

DEVILS SPUN BY CYCLONES IN OT: The Trenton Devils gave up a 2-0 third period lead and lost in overtime to the Cincinnati Cyclones, 3-2, at Sovereign Bank Arena Sunday afternoon. The Devils got on the scoreboard at 13:53 of the first when Dan Eves' slap shot from the left circle beat former Trenton goalie Martin Houle, Eves' first career goal. After a scoreless second period, Trevor Kell and Jim Henkel combined on a shorthanded two-on-one, with Kell converting for his sixth goal of the season at 6:01 of the third. Just over two minutes later, Olivier Lantendresse scored on a goal mouth scramble to put the Cyclones back within a goal. Cincinnati tied the game with 5:42 left in regulation as Barret Ehgoetz deflected in a Conrad Martin slap shot past Jason Smith. The Cyclones put the game to rest 1:04 into the extra period when Mark Van Guilder raced into the Devils' zone and fired a wrist shot into the top corner to give the Cyclones a 3-2 win.

P.K. IS A-OK: Until the Everblades scored on their first power play of the night on Saturday, the Devils had killed 28 straight penalties, putting them from worst in the ECHL (as of 11/15) to seventh in the ECHL before Saturday's game, a 16-spot turnaround in two weeks.

NOW THAT'S A DEBUT!: Gerald Coleman became the second goaltender in Trenton history to record a shutout in his debut against Reading Wednesday night. Brian Regan performed the feat in the 2000-01 season opener against the Toledo Storm on October 13, an 8-0 Trenton victory.

QUICK HITS: Many players returned to the lineup either from Lowell of the American Hockey League or the injured reserve, as Eric Castonguay, Matt Cohen, Kevin Cormier, Chris Dyment, Thomas Harrison, Trevor Kell and Chris Poli all returned to the Trenton lineup in the past week...The additions of the aforementioned players preceded the movement of three players to elsewhere in the ECHL, as Gord Burnett, Dan McGoff and Mark O'Leary were dealt to Phoenix, Stockton and Augusta, respectively...Burton's hat trick was the first for Trenton since Benoit Mondou had three goals against the Wheeling Nailers on January 28, 2008.

UPCOMING GAMES

Friday, December 5, 7:30 p.m. -- Devils vs. Florida Everblades

The Florida Everblades will seek revenge for their loss against the Devils on Saturday as the two teams meet again six days after the exciting contest. The seven goals scored by Trenton in the game were the most by the Devils this season, and were more than the amount Florida had allowed in the six games coming into Saturday combined. The Everblades retained first place in the American Conference South Division with a 4-3 overtime win over the Johnstown Chiefs on Sunday.

Saturday, December 6, 7:35 p.m. -- Devils at Elmira Jackals

The Devils will face their most familiar of foes in the Elmira Jackals for the fourth time of 13 meetings this season. The Jackals have won all three games against Trenton, with the most recent a 1-0 nailbiter on November 21, as Steve Yetman's late goal proved to be the difference for the Jackals. Leading scorer Tyler Donati returns for the slumping Jackals, who have won three out of their last eight and fell to fifth place in the American Conference North Division with Cincinnati's win on Sunday.

Practice/Game Schedule:

Tuesday, December 2 -- Practice @ Sovereign Bank Arena -- 10:30 a.m.

Wednesday, December 3 -- Practice @ Grundy Recreation Center -- 10:30 a.m.

Thursday, December 4 -- Practice @ Grundy Recreation Center -- 10:30 a.m.

Friday, December 5 -- Pre-game skate @ Sovereign Bank Arena -- 10:00 a.m.

Game vs. Florida -- 7:30 p.m.

Travel to Elmira

Saturday, December 6 -- Pre-game skate @ First Arena -- 11:15 a.m.

Game @ Elmira -- 7:35 p.m.

Return to Trenton

Sunday, December 7 -- Day Off

Monday, December 8 -- Practice @ Sovereign Bank Arena -- 10:30 a.m.

DEVILS GAME BROADCASTS: Tune in as Paul Roper brings you all of the Devils' hockey action live Saturday and Sunday on www.trentondevils.com, courtesy of B2 Networks. Video broadcasts are available for a charge of $6 per game, while audiocasts are free of charge. A cable or DSL Internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 are required to view the games.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from December 1, 2008


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.

OurSports Central