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Albany Devils Rally to Force Game 7

The Albany Devils had just suffered two straight brutal losses at home to fall behind in their AHL North Division Final playoff series three games to two. Heading back north of the border to the Ricoh Coliseum, it just seemed a mere formality that the Toronto Marlies had this thing sewed up.

As an article on TheAHL.com mentioned, the A-Devils were without Mike Sislo, Jim O’Brien, Pavel Zacha and Brian O’Neill who have all sustained injuries during this series. They are all a key part of the Devils’ offense and cannot be replaced.

But somebody forgot to tell the Devils about the script. Albany came out swinging and defeated the Marlies 4 to 1 to force a game seven on Monday night in Toronto.

The A-Devils showed they meant business when they scored just 4:24 into the game. Reid Boucher had that goal (with Vojtech Mozik and Seth Helgeson getting the assists) to make it 1-0.

Albany would not wait long to double their lead. Less than a minute later at 5:13, Corbin McPherson netted his first of the playoffs from Rod Pelley to make it 2-0 Devils.

Coming out of the first intermission, Toronto knew that they needed something to get back in the game and that something would come off of the stick of Kasperi Kapanen, as he scored his second of the playoffs from Stuart Percy and Viktor Loov at 10:45.

The A-Devs would get that goal back when game three hero Nick Lappin scored his fourth of the playoffs (assists to Matt Lorito and Boucher) at 14:42 to put Albany up 3-1.

Graham Black would add a goal 8:56 into the third period (with McPherson and Lappin with the helpers) to top the game off 4-1 for the A-Devils.

Lappin (one goal, one assist for two points) would be named the first star of the game as Boucher would be the number two star (also with a goal and an assist on the night). The third star was Albany goalie Scott Wedgewood.

And speaking of Wedgewood, he made 34 saves on 35 shots seen in getting the clutch win. Toronto goaltender Antoine Bibeau saw 28 shots and had 24 saves in taking the loss.

Albany went 0-for-3 on the power play while Toronto was 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

And now looms game seven. The game will be played Monday in Toronto as both teams look to move on to the AHL’s Eastern Conference Final. With so much on the line, can the A-Devs complete the comeback and move on? Or will Toronto, the best team in the AHL in the regular season, move on and continue playing for the Calder Cup? Each team will now get a chance to write their own destiny.

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Devils Earn Point in Fantastic Outing versus Caps, Lose in OT

The Devils had a near-Herculean task on their hands. Even after blanking the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, they had to fly home and take on the best team overall in the NHL this year, the Washington Capitals. This game had blood bath written all over it (in favor of the Capitals).

What all those who witnessed it would see was a titanic defensive struggle that was not devoid of excitement.

In the end, though, Washington would emerge victorious as the Devils fell in overtime for only the second time this season.

Neither team had a morning skate yesterday, as the Caps were resting up for the Playoffs (of which they have already clinched a spot – the only team in the Eastern Conference to do so) and the Devils had just come in from Pittsburgh after playing the night before. The Capitals, with the win tonight, can clinch the President’s Trophy (first place overall in NHL regular season and home ice throughout the Playoffs) as soon as their game tomorrow.

Some injury notes for the Capitals, as TJ Oshie sat out with an illness and Colonia, New Jersey-native John Carlson was back in the lineup after having surgery for a lower body injury and missing the last 13 games for them. He would play a significant role in this game going forward.

The goaltending matchup was a good one. Scott Wedgewood got his third straight start in net for the Devils. In Pittsburgh on Thursday, he became only the second goalie to earn a shutout in his second NHL start in Devils history. The other was Sam St. Laurent in 1985-86. In this game, Wedgewood made 25 saves on 26 shots.

For the Caps, Braden Holtby continued on his quest to break Martin Brodeur’s single season wins record. He got closer with a shutout OT victory. He stopped all 22 Devils shots he saw.

Although the game was scoreless for three periods, does not mean there was no action. Evgeny Kuznetsov was stopped by Wedgewood in the middle of the first period and was not able to get a shot off on the rebound. This was a big save early on for Wedgewood and got his confidence going quickly. Wedgewood would come up big time and time again. All this while the Devils spent most of the first period hemmed in their own zone. Things got more back-and-forth as the game would wear on and both Wedgewood and Holtby would be equal to the task each time.

The Devils defense came up big all night too. Blocked shots played a big part in them getting the point tonight. It also showed on the penalty kill. The Devils held Washington 0-for-2 on the power play, including a huge kill when Damon Severson was called for interference on Alex Ovechkin with just over two minutes left in the game. Conversely, the Devils power play went 0-for-3 on the night, including Ovechkin going off for tripping midway through the third.

Some injury scares in the second and third periods, as Stephen Gionta took a puck to the ankle mid-second, but would return. Right after that, Andy Greene was shaken up, but did not leave the game. Early in the third, Adam Larsson would catch a puck to the mouth blocking a shot; he would be bloodied, but would also return to the ice.

So, the game stayed scoreless through 60 minutes of hockey and headed into OT. The last time the Devils had played a scoreless OT game was in the 2011-12 season against the Colorado Avalanche that the Devils eventually won in a shootout. The Devils had also never been swept in a regular season series by the Washington Capitals in their history.

But that would change off the stick of a New Jersey-bred player making his return to the lineup. John Carlson would score the game winner, beating Wedgewood to the stick side with a slapshot at 2:17 elapsed in overtime. Assists went to noted Devil-killer Jason Chimera and Marcus Johansson. Moments prior, Wedgewood had stopped Nate Schmidt on a breakaway to keep the game going.

If there is any doubt that Holtby could be a good guy to overtake Marty in the record books it is this classy move: as he was skating towards his teammates to celebrate the win, he met Wedgewood coming towards the Devils bench, he tapped the rookie on the pads as they passed to let him know that he played a good game and that there was much respect for him. Wedgewood’s shutout streak ended at a little over two full games. Wedgewood was again named the second star of the game by the attending media.

Next up for New Jersey, the Devils head to Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes at 5 PM Easter Sunday. The Canes are a team in a very similar situation to the Devils in terms of still being on the playoff bubble. Look for a competitive game between two teams fighting for a spot. Though if anything can top this defensive gem the Devils and Capitals played tonight, it would have to be near-perfect.