Friday, February 15, 2008

 

Devils Stun Monarchs in Shootout, 4-3
Lowell rallies from a 3-0 deficit to win

MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Lowell Devils rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Manchester Monarchs, 4-3, in the shootout on Friday at the Verizon Wireless Arena. 

Down 3-2 heading into the third period, the Devils tied the game at 3:25 on a fortuitous bounce.  Mark Fraser fired a wrist shot from the blue line that clipped off the calf of Barry Tallackson as headed toward the net and hopped over Monarch goaltender Danny Taylor. 

Conversely, Lowell netminder Frank Doyle was huge down the stretch, stopping all eight shots in overtime to finish the game with 33 saves overall.  After allowing Trevor Lewis to score for Manchester in the first round of the shootout, Doyle shut the door for the remaining four rounds.  On the other end of the ice, Grant Marshall and Rod Pelley converted to give the Devils their first shootout win of the year. 

Lowell was kept on its heels for the majority of the first period as they were forced to kill off four opportunities that totaled 8:37 of power play time.  The Monarchs broke through only once, however, when Dave Meckler went diving into the crease to poke a rebound chance past Doyle with 4:26 left until the intermission.

Manchester stretched their lead to 3-0 with two goals in the middle period.   Drew Bagnall’s point shot at 4:06 snuck through traffic and into the net to push the Monarchs’ lead to two before Lauri Tukonen added another marker at 11:05. 

Lowell would quickly answer as, 2:25 after Tukonen’s goal, Erik Rasmussen scored on the power play when his centering pass pinballed off Taylor and defenseman Jon Klemm before crossing the goal line.  The goal was Rasmussen’s first as a Lowell Devil.  Petr Vrana then pulled the Devils within a goal 3:21 later when he cut through the crease to gather a rebound and sweep it under a fallen Taylor for his ninth of the year.  

The Devils went 1-for-4 on the man-advantage and 6-for-7 on the penalty kill. The victory ended a twelve-game winless streak for Lowell. 

The Lowell Devils return home to battle Manchester on Saturday, February 16 at 2:05p.m. The first 2,500 fans through the door will receive a Lowell Devils mouse pad courtesy of Pepsi.  Join the Devils and Lowell General Hospital before the game for a Healthy Heart Expo at Tsgonas Arena, 11a.m. – 1 p.m.  The Expo is free of charge with your ticket to Devils game that afternoon.   Tickets start at just $10; Call the Devils office at (978) 458-PUCK for more information or visit www.lowelldevilshockey.com.