Monday, March 8, 2010

Devils Weekly #23
Lowell Continues Season-Long Road Stretch
Devils salvage weekend with shootout win over Providence

Last Week:
Wed., 3/3 - DEVILS vs. Binghamton Senators – L 1-4
Sat., 3/6 - Devils @ SPRINGFIELD FALCONS – L 5-7
Sun., 3/7 - Devils @ PROVIDENCE BRUINS – SOW 3-2

This Week:
Fri., 3/12 - Devils @ SYRACUSE CRUNCH, 7:30 PM
Sat., 3/13 - Devils @ HARTFORD WOLF PACK, 7:00 PM

The Devils opened the month of March much like they started February in falling 4-1 to Binghamton on Wednesday and on Saturday versus Springfield, 7-5.  Lowell was able to rebound on Sunday and rally past Providence for a 3-2 shootout win. 

Lowell continues its five-game road stretch on Friday with its first-ever visit to Syracuse to face the Crunch. The Devils complete the short week on Saturday in Hartford.   Lowell has compiled a record of 33-24-4-4 with 15 games left in the regular season schedule. With 74 points, the Devils remain in fourth place and are two points behind the Manchester Monarchs, who have a game in hand. 

Rewind:
Wednesday, DEVILS 1 vs. Senators 4
Martin St. Pierre’s three-point game helped lead the Senators to their first ever win over the Lowell Devils, 4-1, at the Tsongas Center.  St. Pierre and Denis Hamel each posted two assists as the Senators ended both an eight-game winless streak and a string of 12 straight road games without a victory.  Ben Walter’s power play goal 30 seconds into the second period pulled Lowell within one, but St. Pierre and Derek Smith would each strike for Binghamton to complete the scoring.  Mike McKenna turned aside 25 shots in the loss.

Saturday, Devils 5 vs. FALCONS 7
Chris Minard and Chad Wiseman each posted two goals versus their former team as Springfield defeated Lowell, 7-5, at the MassMutual Center. Matt Halischuk’s two-goal, one-assist game was not enough for a Devils team that got within one goal three times only to have the Falcons respond each time.  Charles Linglet matched Halischuk’s performance with three assists in the contest. 

Sunday, Devils 3 vs. BRUINS 2 (SO)
Mike McKenna stopped 33 shots through overtime and was a perfect 4-for-4 in the shootout to help Lowell finish the weekend with a 3-2 victory over Providence at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.  Trailing 1-0 heading into the third period, Matt Halischuk tied the score at 3:39 before Patrick Davis gave the Devils their first lead of the game just over a minute later.  Jamie Arniel’s power play goal with 6:18 left in regulation forced overtime and ended an 0-for-43 stretch on the man-advantage for the Bruins. 

Around the Horns
Sunday’s win over Providence marked the second time in the last six games that Devils have rallied to win when trailing after two periods. They had accomplished this only once previously on Oct. 23 at Springfield…The seven goals allowed against Springfield was a season high for Lowell and also tied the franchise road mark (accomplished three times, most recently Feb. 21, 2009 in a 7-2 loss at Manchester)… 
Lowell won in the shootout on Sunday for the first time since Oct. 23 at Springfield.  The Devils had lost four straight in the shootout before Sunday…Mike McKenna has been in net for all six of the Devils shootouts, going 2-4 with a .621 save percentage...The Devils are 30-4-2-1 when scoring three goals or more…Matt Halischuk has six points in his last six games (4g-2a) since missing 10 in a row due to injury. 

Coming Up
The Devils make their first-ever visit to Syracuse to battle the Crunch on Friday.  In their inaugural meeting on Jan. 13 at the Tsongas Center, the Crunch were able to hold on for a 3-2 win over the Devils.  Dan LaCosta made 32 saves for Syracuse to fend off the Lowell rally.  The Crunch have won three in a row to get back to .500 at 29-29-3-3.  With 64 points, they are five points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.  Brendan Bell is tied with Matt Taormina for the lead among AHL defensemen with 28 power play points (11g-17a).

Lowell wraps up its two-game set on Saturday as they faceoff against the Wolf Pack in Hartford.  The Devils lead the season series, 3-2-1-0 thanks to a 4-3 win over Hartford last Sunday in Lowell.  The Wolf Pack are winless in their last six games, all of which have been decided by one goal (0-2-3-1).  They have fallen to seventh place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 26-27-6-5, but are six points behind eighth-seeded Bridgeport with two games in hand. 

Upcoming Promotions/In the Community

  • Wednesday, March 10
    • Devil Dawg will be making a lunchtime visit to the Sacred Heart School in Haverhill, MA from 11:30AM – 12:30PM.
    • Matt Cohen will be reading to a group of children at the Townsend Library in Townsend, MA at from 6:00PM – 7:00PM.

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Leaders for Lowell

  • Goals: Nick Palmier, Ben Walteri (19)
  • Assists: Cory Murphy, Matt Taormina (31)
  • Points: Ben Walter (45)
  • PIM: Louis Robitaille (254)
  • Plus/Minus: Tyler Eckford (+11)
  • Wins: Mike McKenna (19)
  • GAA: Mike McKenna (2.25)
  • Save %: Mike McKenna (.928)

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