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Whitney Whacks Whale with Late Tally

April 19, 2013 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


Albany, NY, April 19, 2013 - Joe Whitney's goal with 4:59 left in the third period gave the Albany Devils a 3-2 win over the Connecticut Whale Friday night at the Times-Union Center.

Whitney tallied his 26th of the year for the winner, poking the puck in from the right side of the goalmouth after Jon Merrill had stickhandled down the slot.

With the loss, the Whale are now winless in a season-high five straight games (0-4-1-0) and fell to 35-31-6-3. The Whale finish their regular season Saturday night in Portland, while the teams with whom they are battling for one of the last playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, Norfolk, Manchester and Hershey, all have two games left.

Hershey won at Adirondack, 2-1, and Manchester defeated Binghamton on the road by the same score, meaning that the Whale, Bears and Monarchs all ended the night at 79 points.

Harri Pesonen had the other two Albany goals, and Keith Kinkaid made 21 saves in the Devil net. Kris Newbury and Christian Thomas scored for the Whale, and Cam Talbot made 32 stops. Sean Collins assisted on both Connecticut goals.

The Whale struck first in the game, at 10:21 of the first period, as Newbury scored his 20th goal of the season on a breakaway. Collins sent Newbury behind the Albany defense with a skillful bank pass off of the right-wing boards, and Newbury put a shot up under the crossbar behind Kinkaid.

Albany replied on a power play at 15:35, with Kelsey Tessier in the penalty box for interference. Moments after Talbot had made a stellar sliding save on Devil point man Damon Severson, Severson was set up again for a one-timer from the left circle. Talbot stopped the shot, but the puck slipped through his pads into the goal crease behind him, and Pesonen poked it into the net.

The same pattern repeated itself in the second period, the Whale jumping ahead and the Devils answering fairly quickly.

Thomas made it a 2-1 Connecticut lead at 11:45 with his 19th of the year, off of a two-on-one down low with Tessier. Tessier found a loose puck and fed it across the slot to Thomas, and Thomas' hard shot went off a diving Kinkaid and in.

Pesonen got that one back for the Devils only 2:49 later, though, at 14:34. The Whale's Dylan McIlrath seemed to have Pesonen well checked on left wing, but Pesonen found enough room to get a hard shot away, and the drive eluded the catching glove of Talbot.

The Whale's regular-season finale in Portland Saturday night is a 7:00 PM game. All the action of that battle can be heard live on "The Rock" 106.9 WCCC and on-line at www.ctwhale.com . Video streaming is available at www.ahllive.com .

For information on Whale playoff tickets and plans, and all of the Whale's many ticketing options, visit www.ctwhale.com, or call the CT Whale ticket office at (860) 548-2000 to talk with an account executive today.

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