A-Devils and Marlies All Tied Up

Albany Devils website writer Kevin Zalaznik recently penned an article that put forth the notion that the A-Devils versus Toronto Marlies North Division Final playoff series was the series to watch in the 2016 Calder Cup playoffs. And how can you argue with him? These are the two top teams in the AHL this past season and should make for some amazing American League-level hockey. In any other season, Zalaznik pointed out, this would be a matchup saved for the Conference Finals. However, with the new AHL playoff format, the Devils and the Marlies would be going at it for the North Division playoff championship.

The Devils pulled out to a quick 1-0 series lead when they downed Toronto 2-1 at the Ricoh Coliseum this past Wednesday.

True to form, Toronto evened out the best-of-seven series on Friday night with a 5-3 win over Albany.

Dan Kelly, Nick Lappin and Matt Lorito all scored for Albany in game two. Scott Wedgewood has been solid throughout the young series.

Game three is Sunday at the Times Union Center in Albany at 5 PM. Can the A-Devils take another series lead?

In other New Jersey Devils-related news, Team USA dropped their opener at the World Championships in Russia with some New Jersey players in the spotlight.

Keith Kinkaid got the start for John Hynes’ squad and made 28 saves, in a losing effort against Canada on Friday. The good news for Devils fans is that David Warsofsky assisted on the only American goal of the game, scored by the Edmonton Oilers’ Patrick Maroon on the power play in the first period.

Stat lines for the Devils involved in the game saw Warsofsky getting the assist, one shot and 16:48 time on ice. Steven Santini had 11:33 of ice time while Miles Wood had 5:16 of ice time. Kinkaid faced 33 Canadian shots, but took the 5-1 loss. The US next plays Belarus on Saturday in Group B action in St. Petersburg.

Other Devils active in the World Championships are Adam Larsson, who registered a shot in 18:03 in ice time as Sweden defeated Latvia 2-1; and Sergey Kalinin, who had 12:24 TOI as Russia lost to the Czech Republic, 3-0. Sweden next plays the Czechs on Monday and host Russia takes on Kazakhstan on Sunday.

Albany Devils to Open Playoffs

After a playoff race that went right up to the end of the season, the Albany Devils’ first round, divisional semifinal has been set.

The A-Devils clinched their playoff spot about two weeks ago with a 46-20-8-2 record, finishing second in the North Division of the AHL. But their opposition came down to the wire to clinch their spot. They could have faced several teams, all of whom were still in the running to finish as the Devils’ opponents, but in the end it was the Utica Comets who came out on top. The Comets are the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks.

According to an article written on TheAlbanyDevils.com by Kevin Zalaznik, the series is previewed. Games one, two and a possible fifth game will be played at Albany’s Times Union Center. Games three and a possible fourth will be played at the Utica Auditorium. All games are at 7 PM except for games two and five, which will have a 5 PM puck drop. The series will take place from April 22 to April 30.

Albany won the season series 6-0-2-0 and Jim O’Brien had eleven points (seven goals and four assists) and Matt Lorito had seven points (three goals and four assists) to pace all Devils skaters against the Comets. The A-Devils goaltenders, Scott Wedgewood and Yann Danis both went 3-0-1 in the 2015-16 season against Utica.

The Utica Comets finished third in the North Division with a 38-26-8-4 record. PK Subban’s brother, Jordan, was the Comets’ leading scorer against Albany, scoring six points (one goal and five assists). In goal, Richard Bachman had a 2.77 goals against average and a .889 save percentage against the Devils while Joe Cannata had a 3.45 GAA and a .892 save percentage. All of this information came from the Zalaznik article.

Good luck to the Albany Devils as they begin their quest for the Calder Cup.

On the topic of the A-Devils, congratulations to Mike Sislo, who was named to the AHL’s Second All-Star team. This was voted on by the “coaches, players and media in each of the league’s 30 member clubs” according to another article by Zalaznik on the A-Devils’ official website.

Sislo played for the New Jersey Devils this season, 17 games, netting three goals and one assist for four points.