Devils Weekly #11
Weekend Split Puts Lowell in Second Place
Devils defeat Monarchs to pull into three-way tie for second in standings

Last Week:
Fri., 12/11 – Devils @ PROVIDENCE BRUINS – L 0-3
Sat., 12/12 - Devils @ MANCHESTER MONARCHS – W 3-2

This Week:
Tue., 12/15 – DEVILS vs. Springfield Falcons, 7:00PM
Fri., 12/18 – DEVILS vs. Albany River Rats, 7:00PM
Sat., 12/19 – Devils @ MANCHESTER MONARCHS, 7:00PM
Sun., 12/20 - Devils @ PROVIDENCE BRUINS, 4:05PM

The Lowell Devils split a pair of road games over the weekend and, at 15-11-3-0, have pulled into a tie for second place in the Atlantic Division with the Portland Pirates and Bridgeport Sound Tigers.  The Devils were blanked on Friday by the Providence Bruins, 3-0, but rebounded to edge the Manchester Monarchs, 3-2, on Saturday. 

Lowell will play four games in six days in its final week before the holiday break.  The Devils begin on Tuesday at home against the Springfield Falcons before hosting the Albany River Rats on Friday for the first time this season.  Lowell wraps up the weekend with the second straight Saturday road game versus Manchester and then a Sunday matinee in Providence.

Rewind:
Friday, Devils 0 vs. BRUINS 3
Dany Sabourin stopped all 35 shots he faced as Providence handed Lowell its second shutout of the season, 3-0, at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.  Zach Hamill had a hand in all three Bruins’ tallies with a goal and two assists in the contest.  Craig Weller’s first of the season at 6:25 of the first proved to be the game-winner.  Jeff Frazee stopped 31-of-33 in the loss. 

Saturday, Devils 3 vs. MONARCHS 2
Lowell’s three first period goals were just enough for a 3-2 decision over Manchester at the Verizon Wireless Arena.  Ben Walter assisted on all the goals as he and linemates Matt Halischuk and Brad Snetsinger combined for a goal and six assists in the contest.  Olivier Magnan, Halischuk and Rob Davison each notched their second goal of the year for Lowell.  Dave Meckler and Gabe Gauthier lit the lamp later in the match to pull the Monarchs within one, but Mike McKenna would hold on with 24 saves on the night to secure the win.  

Around the Horns
The Devils are 8-1-0-0 in the second of back-to-back games...Despite going 0-for-5 this week, Lowell’s power play unit ranks first in the AHL (21.9%) for the first time this season…Lowell is 14-3-2-0 when scoring three or more goals and 14-2-1-0 when allowing three or less.   They have never lost at home when allowing three or fewer goals (9-0-0-0)…Ben Walter tied the team season high with three assists on Saturday at Manchester…Matt Halischuk has recorded two multi-point games and five overall points (2g-3a) in three contests since being loaned to Lowell last Saturday…Tim Sestito and brother Tom rank in the top five in shooting percentage in the AHL.  Tom leads the way at 29.2%, while Tim is tied for third at 27.3%.

Coming Up
Lowell and Springfield face off on Tuesday for the fifth time in the eight-game season series.  The Devils are 2-2-0-0 against the Falcons, having defeated them both in overtime and the shootout.   Springfield has gone winless is its last nine games (0-7-1-1) to fall into eighth place in the division at 10-13-4-2.  LW Charles Linglet is tied for second in scoring with 31 points (7g-24a) and is tied for the league lead with 24 assists. 

On Friday, Albany will make its only visit of the season to the Tsongas Arena.  The River Rats are the hottest team in the AHL with seven straight wins and a nine-game point streak (8-0-1-0).  At 17-10-1-2, Albany sits just a point behind the first place Hershey Bears in the East Division.  Leading the charge has been goalie Justin Peters who has won five in a row while allowing only five goals. 

The Devils make their second trip in as many weeks to Manchester to battle the Monarchs. Lowell took the 2-1 lead in the ten-game season series with its 3-2 victory last weekend.  The Monarchs continue to dominate on defense, ranking third and allowing only 2.16 goals per game.  Manchester has won eight of its last ten and has opened up a ten-point cushion for first place in the Atlantic with a record of 20-8-1-2. 

Lowell will battle Providence on Sunday afternoon as they reach the midway point of the ten-game season series.  The Bruins pulled even with the Devils in the head-to-head match-up by virtue of their victory on Friday.  Providence ranks seventh in the division at 15-13-1-0, but is just two points behind the
three-way tie for second place between Lowell, Portland and Bridgeport. The Bruins are 12-5-0-0 with Brad Marchand and Trent Whitfield in the line-up.

Transactions
Dec. 10, 2009

  • RW Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond recalled from conditioning loan by New Jersey (NHL)

Dec. 11, 2009      

  • D Greg Flynn signed to an amateur try-out agreement. 

Dec. 12, 2009

  • LW Kevin Cormier reassigned from Trenton (ECHL) by New Jersey (NHL). 

Leaders for Lowell

  • Goals: Tim Sestito (9)
  • Assists: Ben Walter (15)
  • Points: Ben Walter (11)
  • PIM: Louis Robitaille (130)
  • Plus/Minus: Tyler Eckford (+12)
  • Wins: Mike McKenna (9)
  • G.A.A.: Mike McKenna (2.52)
  • Save %:  Mike McKenna (.918)

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