Devils lose to Crunch

by Kevin Zalaznik & Dan St-Jacques // 2.13.2013 // Recap

ALBANY, NY -- The Albany Devils three game winning streak came to an end with a 6-0 setback against the Syracuse Crunch Wednesday at Times Union Center. The contest was the second of three outings between the two teams in a 10 day span.

Despite the loss, the Devils are just a point out of a playoff spot with a 20-17-1-8 record. The Crunch improve to 27-14-2-4.

Keith Kinkaid, who played 40 minutes, made 10 saves on 16 shots and Jeff Frazee supplied 20 minutes of relief, stopping the six attempts he faced. At the other end, Riku Helenius turned aside 24 shots for his third shutout of the season. He improves to 9-8-0 on the season.

Mark Barberio and Radko Gudas led the Crunch each producing a power-play goal and an assist. Barberio opened the scoring 45 ticks into the game and Gudas made the score 3-0 at 5:07 of the second. Dmitry Korobov sandwiched a power-play goal in between the two at 4:30 of the second.

Syracuse added to its lead with Dana Tyrell’s shorthanded tally at 12:21 and J.T. Wyman’s man-advantage goal at 16:49 of the second. Before the end of the period, Mike Angelidis upped the score, playing with a man down, at 19:44.

Game Notes 
- The loss marks just the second loss in regulation in the last eight games for Keith Kinkaid. He is 5-2-0-1 in that span.

- David Wohlberg returned to the Devils lineup for the first time since Jan. 18. He centered Harri Pesonen and Mike Sislo.

- Before the game, New Jersey recalled Andrei Loktionov and reassigned Harry Young to Albany from Kalamazoo.

- During the second period, news broke that the New Jersey Devils acquired Alexei Ponikarovsky for a seventh round draft pick in 2013 and a fourth round pick in 2014.

Lineup 
Goaltenders: Keith Kinkaid, Jeff Frazee
Defensemen: Brandon Burlon, Eric Gelinas, Raman Hrabarenka, Dan Kelly, Corbin McPherson, Alexander Urbom
Forwards: Matt Anderson, Phil DeSimone, Cam Janssen, Chris McKelvie, Harri Pesonen, Tim Sestito, Mike Sislo, Joe Whitney, Chad Wiseman, David Wohlberg,Darcy Zajac, Steve Zalewski

Next Up 
The Devils travel the Northway to face the Adirondack Phantoms on Friday at 7 pm. The contest is the ninth of the best of 12 series for the Time Warner Cable Cup. Albany is 6-1-0-1 against Adirondack this season. The game can be followed on 104.5 “The Team” ESPN Radio or online at ahllive.com.

Syracuse Crunch 6 at Albany Devils 0 - Status: Final
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 - Times Union Center

Syracuse 1 5 0 - 6
Albany 0 0 0 - 0

1st Period-1, Syracuse, Barberio 7 (Johnson, Connolly), 0:45 (PP). Penalties-Angelidis Syr (fighting), 0:08; Kelly Alb (boarding, fighting), 0:08; Urbom Alb (slashing), 1:16; Hrabarenka Alb (delay of game), 6:53; Jacques Syr (fighting), 11:41; Janssen Alb (fighting), 11:41; Angelidis Syr (holding), 11:48; Barberio Syr (slashing), 12:57.

2nd Period-2, Syracuse, Korobov 3 (Devos, Gudas), 4:30 (PP). 3, Syracuse, Gudas 4 (Korobov, Namestnikov), 5:07 (PP). 4, Syracuse, Tyrell 1 12:21 (SH). 5, Syracuse, Wyman 6 (Devos, Barberio), 16:49 (PP). 6, Syracuse, Angelidis 8 19:44 (SH). Penalties-Gauthier Syr (fighting), 2:42; McKelvie Alb (fighting), 2:42; Sestito Alb (boarding), 3:29; Zalewski Alb (hooking), 4:30; Gauthier Syr (boarding), 11:07; Whitney Alb (hooking), 16:12; Tyrell Syr (checking to the head), 18:13.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Angelidis Syr (fighting), 0:24; Kelly Alb (fighting), 0:24; Zalewski Alb (interference), 1:31; Gudas Syr (interference), 5:18; DeSimone Alb (interference), 6:42; Namestnikov Syr (closing hand on puck), 17:19; Sestito Alb (hooking, unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct - abuse of officials), 17:58; Gudas Syr (fighting), 18:28; McKelvie Alb (fighting), 18:28.

Shots on Goal-Syracuse 9-7-6-22. Albany 8-10-6-24.
Power Play Opportunities-Syracuse 4 / 10; Albany 0 / 6.
Goalies-Syracuse, Helenius 9-8-0 (24 shots-24 saves). Albany, Kinkaid 16-10-4 (16 shots-10 saves); Frazee 4-8-4 (6 shots-6 saves).
A-2,231
Referees-Jon McIsaac (45), Trent Knorr (44).
Linesmen-Steeve Lemay (64), Frank Murphy (29).

by Kevin Zalaznik // 2.12.2013 // Preview

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

Storyline 
The Albany Devils and the Syracuse Crunch are meeting for the second time in five days and will meet again on Monday at Times Union Center. These two teams have already faced off three times this year and, including Wednesday's game, will meet five more times.

Notables 
- The Devils are third in the Northeast Division and tied for 10th in the Eastern Conference at 20-16-1-8 (49 pts.) with an 8-8-0-5 home showing. The Crunch are second in the East Division and fourth in the conference at 26-14-2-4 (58 pts.), including a 16-6-0-2 road record.

- Matt Anderson is the Devils leading scorer against Syracuse with a goal and three assists in three outings. Joe Whitney has netted two goals in two games against the Crunch and Tim Sestito has a goal and an assist in three contests.

- Jeff Frazee and Keith Kinkaid have combined for a three game winning streak. Frazee made 37 saves in a 3-2 shootout win at Binghamton Sunday, while Kinkaid made 20 stops in a 4-3 shootout victory at Connecticut Tuesday and 27 saves in a 4-3 win at Syracuse Saturday.

- Head Coach Rick Kowalsky indicated during Tuesday’s practice that captain Jay Leach is expected to miss 7-10 days with a lower-body injury suffered during the first period of Sunday’s game.

- Syracuse, which is 2-7-0-1 in its last 10 games, went 1-2-0-0 last week. On home ice, they defeated Adirondack, 4-2, Friday and lost to Abany, 4-3, Saturday. They then lost at Adirondack, 6-1, Sunday.

- Tyler Johnson leads the Crunch with 23 goals, including eight power-play goals, and 42 points. Additionally, he has produced 19 assists and a plus-18 rating. Brett Connelly is second with 40 points, backed by 19 goals and 21 helpers.

Last Meetings 
Feb. 9, 2013: Albany 4 at Syracuse 3 
Facing a two-goal hole, the Devils rallied in the third period to defeat the Crunch, 4-3, at the Onondaga County War Memorial. The Devils scored four-straight goals during a 14-minute span, securing their second consecutive victory. Matt Anderson had a goal and two assists for his fifth multiple-point outing of the year. Joe Whitney and Scott Parse also scored and Tim Sestito supplied the game-winning goal. Keith Kinkaid earned his 16th victory by making 27 saves on 30 shots.

All-time Series 
All-Time: 9-11-1-2
Home: 2-8-1-1
Away: 7-3-0-1
2012-13: 1-2-0-0

Puck Drop
The Devils return to Times Union Center for the first time since Jan. 26, when they defeated Adirondack, 5-2, in front of a record crowd of 10,218.