POWER PERFORMANCE

by Kevin Zalaznik // 10.22.2011 // Recap

ALBANY, N.Y. – Powered by four power-play goals, the Albany Devils claimed the first game in the quest for the Time Warner Cable Cup with a 5-2 victory against the Adirondack Phantoms Saturday. Rookie defenseman Eric Gelinas was responsible for two of the power-play goals, helping the Devils go 4-for-5 with the man advantage.

“Gelinas, we knew he had a shot,” said head coach Rick Kowalsky when discussion the power play. “If he would have hit the net he may have had three more. It worked out. We had a good net presence with Veilleux in front.”

Peter Harrold and Matt Anderson scored Albany’s other power-play goals and Mike Sislo opened the scoring at even strength. Gelinas, Anderson, Sislo and Stephane Veilleux all had multi-point games. Gelinas had two goals and an assist, Anderson had a goal and two assists, Sislo had a goal and an assist and Veilleux had three assists.

“We brought the puck to the net a lot,” Gelinas said. “We had net presence and we had three guys on the net. That’s how I scored my two goals and that’s what we had to do.”

The last time the Devils had four power-play goals in a game was a 6-1 win when the team was located in Lowell. The Devils went 5-for-9 during that outing on Dec. 15, 2009.

In goal, Jeff Frazee earned his first win of the season by making 25 saves on 27 shots.

“I thought he was fine last night,” Kowalsky said. “It was good for us to give him a cushion and play with a lead. It was good to see how we reacted with a lead.”

The Phantoms efforts were led by Denis Hamel who had a pair of goals. He scored at 6:42 of the first and 3:14 of the second. Both goals gave Adirondack leads.

The Devils were resilient. Sislo made the score 1-1 at 11:06 of the first and Gelinas made it 2-2 at 6:39 of the second.

Harrold’s blast from the point at 10:46 gave the Devils momentum and the advantage. Nearly three minutes later at 13:43, Gelinas cashed in for a second time just outside Michael Leighton’s crease.

Anderson capped the scoring with the fourth and final power-play goal at 17:09 of the third.

Next up, the Devils travel to Providence for a 4:05 p.m. match up tomorrow. The team will be making its 2011-12 ESPN Radio debut, as Josh Heller will have the call on 104.5 FM “The Team”.

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Notes: Last time the Devil scored four power-play goals in a game was during 6-1 win against Springfield on Dec. 15,2009 when the team was in Lowell … the team went 5-for-9 … Eric Gelinas and Peter Harrold both scored their first goals of the season. For Gelinas, it was his first professional goal, while Harrold registered his first tally in a Devils jersey … Adam Henrique was recalled by New Jersey earlier in the day. He flew from Albany to Atlanta and then joined the team in Pittsburgh … The Devils and Mayor Jerry Jennings kicked off the “Mayor’s Fall Drop Off”. Fans who donated a new winter item (coat, gloves, etc.) received a free ticket voucher to a future Devils game … Three Stars: 1.Eric Gelinas (ALB), 2. Jeff Frazee (ALB), 3. Stephane Veilleux (ALB).
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Adirondack Phantoms 2 at Albany Devils 5 - Status: Final
Saturday, October 22, 2011 - Times Union Center

Adirondack 1 1 0 - 2
Albany 1 3 1 - 5

1st Period-1, Adirondack, Hamel 5 (Holmstrom), 6:42. 2, Albany, Sislo 2 (Anderson, Veilleux), 11:06. Penalties-Lauridsen Adk (hooking), 2:50; Veilleux Alb (high-sticking), 14:07; Gionta Alb (cross-checking), 17:38.

2nd Period-3, Adirondack, Hamel 6 (Gustafsson, Akeson), 3:14 (PP). 4, Albany, Gelinas 1 (Anderson, Veilleux), 6:39 (PP). 5, Albany, Harrold 1 (Whitney, Corrente), 10:46 (PP). 6, Albany, Gelinas 2 (Veilleux, Taormina), 13:43 (PP). Penalties-Harrold Alb (delay of game), 2:13; Testwuide Adk (boarding), 5:46; Kelly Alb (hooking), 7:30; Lauridsen Adk (delay of game), 10:06; Roe Adk (hooking), 13:10.

3rd Period-7, Albany, Anderson 3 (Gelinas, Sislo), 17:09 (PP). Penalties-Gustafsson Adk (cross-checking), 15:29; Stoesz Alb (boarding), 17:28.

Shots on Goal-Adirondack 11-9-7-27. Albany 12-13-5-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Adirondack 1 / 5; Albany 4 / 5.
Goalies-Adirondack, Leighton 4-1-0 (30 shots-25 saves). Albany, Frazee 1-3-0 (27 shots-25 saves).
A-3,906
Referees-Geno Binda (22).
Linesmen-Jim Briggs (83), Mike Emanatian (69).

by Albany Devils // 10.22.2011 // Preview

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Twitter: twitter.com/albanydevils
Video: ahllive.com (pay-per-view)
Audio: ahllive.com (free-of-charge)

Storyline
The Northway Rivalry between the Devils and Adirondack Phantoms continues tonight at the Times Union Center (7 p.m.) as the teams kick off their season long chase for the Time Warner Cable Cup. Last season, Albany went 6-5-0-1 against its Northway Rival, but lost the best-of-12 series on a tie breaker. Along with the Syracuse Crunch, the Phantoms are the Devils most common opponent, meeting 10 times.

Notables

- This morning the New Jersey Devils recalled Adam Henrique from Albany.

- Steve Zalewski scored early in the first period last night against Hershey for his second goal in as many games. Unfortunately for the Devils, they couldn’t overcome a four-goal Bears rally, falling, 4-1.

- Stephane Veilleux, who had the second assist on Zalewski’s goal, has registered two assists this season and is one goal away from 50 career AHL goals.

- Adirondack sits atop the Northeast division with a 4-1 record going into tonight’s game. Holding a two point lead over the Connecticut Whale, the Phantoms come to Albany for the fourth contest of their five game road trip after shutting out the Pirates 3-0 last night in Portland.

- Michael Leighton has led the Phantoms between the pipes with a 4-0-0 record with a 1.97 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage.

All-Time Series
Meetings: 26
All-Time: 10-11-2-3
At Devils: 7-3-1-2
At Phantoms: 3-8-1-1

Puck Drop
The City of Albany begins its “Mayor’s Fall Drop Off” at tonight’s game. Fans attending the game are encouraged to donate a new winter item (coat, gloves, etc.) and receive a free ticket voucher to a future Devils home game.