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A-Devils Clinch Spot in Calder Cup Playoffs

The Albany Devils have qualified for the AHL’s Calder Cup playoffs with a 6-3 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack last night at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York. The A-Devils had been struggling of late, but with an influx from the NHL club, they were able to get over the hump and get into the postseason tournament.

You can see Devils with NHL experience up and down the scoresheet. This is a good thing not only for Albany, but also for New Jersey, as the young Devils will gain some great experience by participating in high-pressure situations like a playoff series.

In the clinching game, John Gilmour got the Wolf Pack – who are the Rangers’ AHL affiliate – on the board first at 1:46 of the first period. It took until 13:52 when Vojtech Mozik scored his tenth of the season in the power play (with assists from Brian Gibbons and Karl Stollery) for the A-Devils to tie things up.

The second period saw Hartford regain the lead at 3:20 when Marek Hrivik put them up 2-1. But once Kevin Rooney tied the game shorthanded and unassisted at 6:58, the A-Devils took over the game. John Quenneville scored on the power play from Jacob MacDonald and Carter Camper at 17:08 to give Albany a lead they would not relinquish.

In the third period, Miles Wood scored at 3:06 from Blake Coleman and MacDonald. MacDonald scored at 6:00 from Wood and Coleman and Ben Thomson ended the scoring for Albany at 13:55 with an assist to Shane Harper.

Nicklas Jensen would add his 30th of the year for Hartford to make the final 6-3 with one second remaining in the game.

On the evening, the Devils were 2-for-5 on the power play while the Wolf Pack were 1-for-7 (the third period was particularly penalty-filled).

MacDonald was named the game’s first star with a goal and two assists, Wood was the second star with a goal and an assist and Quenneville was the third star with a goal.

In goal, Mackenzie Blackwood made 23 saves on 26 Hartford shots for the A-Devils while for the Wolf Pack; Magnus Hellberg had 25 stops on 31 shots against.

Albany will finish up their AHL regular season on the weekend, as they play at the Rochester Americans on Friday and are home to the Americans on Saturday.

Congratulations to the Albany Devils and head coach Rick Kowalsky, as well as assistant coach Sergei Brylin, as they embark on the 2017 Calder Cup playoffs.

In other Devils prospect news, Yegor Rykov and SKA St. Petersburg defeated Metallurg Matnitogorsk to take a two games to one series lead in the KHL’s Gagarin Cup Finals.

SKA won 2-1 in double overtime at the Ice Palace in Saint Petersburg to take the edge, with Evgeny Dadonov scoring in the second OT period. Rykov had only 5:17 of ice time on six shifts over the game.

Game four comes on April 14 from Saint Petersburg at the Ice Palace.

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Devils Prospects Continue in OHL Playoff Action

The OHL playoffs continued with some Devils prospects as the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds skated in game four against the Owen Sound Attack and the Mississauga Steelheads were in game three against the Oshawa Generals.

First, the Soo game as the Attack evened their series at two games apiece with a 4-2 victory at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre. Owen Sound got on the board first with a Chase Campbell goal at 2:07 of the first period.

They would double their lead to 2-0 shorthanded at 4:49 of the second period when Nick Suzuki scored.

The Greyhounds got into the scoring column at 6:10 of the second when Boris Katchouk netted his seventh of the playoffs from Blake Speers and David Miller. But that was all Speers, the Devils’ prospect, could do.

Petrus Palmu scored on the power play at 8:20 of the third frame to win the game for Owen Sound. Morgan Frost did add one for Sault Ste. Marie in the third, but the Attack countered with a Jonah Gadjovich goal one minute and thirty-one seconds after that goal at 16:09 of the third.

In goal Joseph Raaymakers made 37 saves on 41 Owen Sound shots while Michael McNiven, getting the win for the Attack, made 25 saves on 27 Soo shots.

Game five takes place on April 14 in Sault Ste. Marie.

Meanwhile, in Oshawa at the Tribute Communities Centre, the Mississauga Steelheads took a two games to one series lead over the Oshawa Generals with a 7-4 win on the road.

Nicolas Hague got the scoring started for the Steelheads on the power play at 4:37 of the first while Vili Saarijarvi scored at 8:33.

Oshawa got the next two with Renars Krastenbergs scoring at 14:03 of the first and Jack Studnicka finding twine at 16:06, sending the game into the first intermission tied at two.

At the 4:44 mark of the second, though, Mississauga began a rampage. Spencer Watson scored with Michael McLeod getting the lone assist on that goal. Hague netted his second of the game on the power play at 5:27 and Watson got his second with assists to the McLeod brothers (Michael had the primary) at 12:44 of the second.

Oshawa briefly came back into it when Danil Antropov scored at 16:31 on the man adavantage.

But in the third period, Watson completed his hat trick (with Michael McLeod netting another assist) at 7:05 and Brendan Harrogate scored on the power play at 9:48. Oshawa pulled Jeremy Brodeur in favor of Logan Gauthier after Watson completed the hatty.

Krastenbergs of the Generals added one on the power play at 16:36 to make the final 7-4.

One other Devils’ connection in this game is that Kyle MacLean, John MacLean’s son had two shots for the Generals and won three of eight faceoffs taken.

Game four comes on April 13 at Oshawa.

One more note is that the SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL – featuring Devils prospect Yegor Rykov – is currently tied with Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the Gagarin Cup Finals at one game apiece.

Game three takes place tomorrow. In game two, Rykov, the young defenseman, had a blocked shot in 6:46 of ice time.