Butler Ties Record, Devils Win 6-3

by Kevin Zalaznik // 12.12.2012 // Recap

ALBANY, NY -- As the Albany Devils go, so goes Bobby Butler. With a 6-3 victory against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Wednesday at Times Union Center, the Devils are riding a four game winning streak. Butler extended his point streak also to four games by tying franchise records with four goals and five points.

Butler joins Matt Halischuk and David Clarkson as the only AHL Devils to produce five points in a game. Like Butler, Halischuk and Clarkson both registered four goals and an assist. Halischuk’s performance came against Worcester on Oct. 11, 2008, while Clarkson’s was against Philadelphia on Jan. 12, 2007.

Additionally, Butler notched the team’s first hat trick since Joe Whitney potted three at Springfield on Jan. 21, 2012. Also, it was Albany’s first four goal performance and hat trick at home since Chad Wiseman accomplished the feat on March 9, 2011 against Bridgeport.

Butler, who entered the night with a goal and three points in the previous three outings, scored at 17:42 of the first, 1:48 and 8:03 of the second – shorthanded – and at 5:35 of the third.

The win pulls the Devils to .500 for the first time this season with an 8-8-0-5 mark, while the Penguins go to 13-8-1-1.

Steve Zalewski, Harri Pesonen, Jacob Josefson and Whitney also registered multiple points. Zalewski had a goal and two assists, while Pesonen netted a goal and assisted on Zalewski’s tally. Josefson and Whitney both had two assists.

In goal, Keith Kinkaid moved his winning streak to four games and he is now 5-5-3 on the season. He turned aside 24 shots.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton received goals from Riley Holzapfel, Brian Dumoulin and Jayson Megna. Between the pipes, Brad Theissen made 24 stops.

Holzapfel opened the scoring at 11:28 of the first and the Devils responded with three straight tallies. Butler evened the score, 1-1, and Pesonen gave Albany the lead from Josefson at 1:03 of the second.

Dumoulin’s goal was sandwiched by Butler’s second and third tallies and Megna pulled his team within one at 15:40 of the second.

In the third, the Devils put the game out of reach with goals from Zalewski at 2:59 and Butler at 5:35.

The Devils travel to the Connecticut Whale on Friday at 7 pm. Fans can follow the action on 104.5 “The Team” ESPN Radio or online at ahllive.com.

Lineup
Goaltenders: Keith Kinkaid, Jeff Frazee
Defensemen: Brandon Burlon, Eric Gelinas, Dan Kelly, Adam Larsson, Corbin McPherson, Alexander Urbom
Forwards: Matt Anderson, Bobby Butler, Jacob Josefson, Chris McKelvie, Harri Pesonen, Tim Sestito, Mike Sislo, Mattias Tedenby, Joe Whitney, Chad Wiseman,Darcy Zajac, Steve Zalewski

Scoring
1st Period-1, W-B/Scranton, Holzapfel 8 (Bennett, Samuelsson), 11:28. 2, Albany, Butler 5 (Whitney, Zalewski), 17:42.
2nd Period-3, Albany, Pesonen 2 (Josefson), 1:03. 4, Albany, Butler 6 (Zalewski, Whitney), 1:48. 5, W-B/Scranton, Dumoulin 2 (Holzapfel, Bennett), 3:16. 6, Albany, Butler 7 8:03. 7, W-B/Scranton, Megna 2 (Thompson, Dumoulin), 15:40.
3rd Period-8, Albany, Zalewski 2 (Butler, Josefson), 2:59. 9, Albany, Butler 8 (Anderson, Pesonen), 5:35.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3 at Albany Devils 6 - Status: Final
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 - Times Union Center

W-B/Scranton 1 2 0 - 3
Albany 1 3 2 - 6

1st Period-1, W-B/Scranton, Holzapfel 8 (Bennett, Samuelsson), 11:28. 2, Albany, Butler 5 (Whitney, Zalewski), 17:42. Penalties-Samuelsson Wbs (interference), 2:07; Reese Wbs (cross-checking), 14:43; Urbom Alb (holding), 17:55.

2nd Period-3, Albany, Pesonen 2 (Josefson), 1:03. 4, Albany, Butler 6 (Zalewski, Whitney), 1:48. 5, W-B/Scranton, Dumoulin 2 (Holzapfel, Bennett), 3:16. 6, Albany, Butler 7 8:03. 7, W-B/Scranton, Megna 2 (Thompson, Dumoulin), 15:40. Penalties-Josefson Alb (tripping), 5:22; Kelly Alb (slashing), 7:28; Tangradi Wbs (high-sticking, fighting), 13:13; Kelly Alb (fighting), 13:13; Reese Wbs (high-sticking), 13:30.

3rd Period-8, Albany, Zalewski 2 (Butler, Josefson), 2:59. 9, Albany, Butler 8 (Anderson, Pesonen), 5:35. Penalties-Farnham Wbs (fighting), 0:21; Zajac Alb (slashing, fighting), 0:21; Uher Wbs (fighting), 5:53; Zalewski Alb (fighting), 5:53; McKelvie Alb (high-sticking), 8:40; Smith Wbs (slashing), 11:16; Uher Wbs (fighting), 15:58; Zajac Alb (fighting), 15:58; Grant Wbs (fighting), 19:03; Samuelsson Wbs (charging, fighting), 19:03; Thompson Wbs (misconduct - unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:03; McKelvie Alb (fighting), 19:03; Sestito Alb (roughing, fighting), 19:03; Farnham Wbs (slashing, misconduct - unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:19; Peters Wbs (interference, fighting), 19:19; Kelly Alb (fighting), 19:19.

Shots on Goal-W-B/Scranton 11-9-7-27. Albany 5-13-12-30.
Power Play Opportunities-W-B/Scranton 0 / 5; Albany 0 / 5.
Goalies-W-B/Scranton, Thiessen 3-3-1 (30 shots-24 saves). Albany, Kinkaid 5-5-3 (27 shots-24 saves).
A-2,233
Referees-Chris Brown (86).
Linesmen-Mike Emanatian (69), Frank Murphy (29).

by Kevin Zalaznik // 12.12.2012 // Preview

Follow the Action
Radio: 104.5 “The Team” ESPN Radio 
Audio/Video: ahllive.com 
Twitter: @albanydevils, @albanydevilspr, #adevils

Storyline 
After wins at Adirondack, against Bridgeport and at Connecticut, the Albany Devils are trying for their fourth consecutive victory. The last time the team won four straight was during a five game run between March 9 and March 16, 2011.

Notables
- The Devils are fifth in the Northeast Division and 15th in the Eastern Conference with a 7-8-0-5 record (19 pts.), including a 3-5-0-3 home mark. The Penguins are tied for second in the East Division and tied for fourth in the conference with a 13-7-1-1 showing (28 pts.), including a 5-4-0-0 road record.

- After Tuesday’s practice, Head Coach Rick Kowalsky indicated the Devils will be without Matthew Corrente, Jay Leach and Stephen Gionta. All three are experiencing upper-body alignments.

- Chad Wiseman has registered three points in the last three games, posting a goal and two assists. For the season, he has registered seven points with three goals and four assists.

- The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins went 0-0-1-1 during their two games last weekend, losing 5-4 in overtime against the Hershey Bears Friday and 4-3 in a shootout against the Portland Pirates Saturday.

- The Penguins led by rookie Beau Bennett with 19 points on five goals and a team-leading 14 assists. Eric Tangradi is the leading goal scorer with 10 goals, including six power-play tallies.

Last Meeting
Nov. 25, 2012: Albany 4, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 5 (Shootout) – Boardwalk Hall
In the first of four Devils games at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, the Devils and the Penguins gave the fans 65 minutes of action followed by a five-round shootout. In the end, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Jayson Megna scored the lone shootout goal, giving his team a 5-4 victory Sunday afternoon.

Mattias Tedenby, Bobby Butler, Adam Henrique and Jacob Josefson each had goals. Butler, who also had an assist, led all Devils scorers with two points. In goal, Keith Kinkaid made 31 saves in his second start in as many nights.

The Penguins received two goals from Tom Kuhnhackl and tallies from Brian Gibbons and Trevor Smith. Both Kuhnhackl and Gibbons added assists to their stat lines. GoaltenderBrad Thiessen turned aside 28 shots.

All-Time Series 
All-Time: 2-14-0-3
2012-13: 0-0-0-1
Home: 1-8-0-1
Away: 1-6-0-2

Puck Drop 
As part of “Dollar Dawg Night” hot dogs and sodas are $1.