Saturday, November 28, 2009

Devils Held at Bay by Pirates, 4-1
Palmieri scores as Lowell loses third straight

LOWELL, Mass. – The Lowell Devils’ losing streak stretched to three games as they fell to the Portland Pirates, 4-1, on Saturday at the Tsongas Arena.   Portland’s Tyler Ennis led all scorers with two assists, while the Pirates extended their point streak to eight games (5-0-3-0).

Given a power play early in the game, Portland needed only 59 seconds to draw first blood after Jeff Cowan pounded a rebound past Mike McKenna after the goaltender had denied a wraparound attempt by Ennis. 

The Pirates struck again early in the second when Matt Caruana potted his first of the season a minute into the period on a long wrister from the circle.   Brad Larsen made the score 3-0 as he took a drop pass on a 3-2 break and fired the puck into the top left corner of the net. 

The Devils got on the board later in the frame with the help of the man-advantage.  Nick Palmieri got a piece of Cory Murphy’s drive from the point and tipped it over the shoulder of goalie Jhonas Enroth. 

Lowell would be unable to pull any closer as Enroth finished with 30 saves on the night.  McKenna took the loss for Lowell with 26 saves on 29 shots. 

The Lowell Devils continue their four-game homestand on Wednesday, December 2 at 7:00PM with a contest against the Adirondack Phantoms.  Tune into the live Devils action on WWZN-1510AM or go to AHLlive.com.  For more information, contact the Devils at (978) 458-PUCK (7825) or visit lowelldevilshockey.com.