By Brian Ring
Albany, NY, October 14, 2011 – The Connecticut Whale fell to the Albany Devils Friday night, 3-2 in a shootout, at the Times-Union Center. Andre Deveaux and Carl Hagelin both scored for the Whale and Kris Newbury assisted on both goals, to give him five points in three games (3-2-5).
Joe Whitney and Matt Anderson scored for Albany, who received a game-winning shootout goal from Matt Taormina to seal the come-from-behind victory.
“We stopped going to them,” said Whale head coach Ken Gernander. “I didn’t like the way we started the [third] period. We stopped forcing the issue or attacking them and I thought we made some plays that were a little bit lax.”
The first period did not see either goaltender face very many quality chances, but Deveaux helped the Whale get the game’s first power-play opportunity when he was taken down by Mike Sislo at 18:33. With newcomer Brendan Bell and Newbury quarterbacking the power-play, Deveaux deflected Newbury’s pass from the boards past Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid (30 saves) for the 1-0 lead. The goal was the first with the Whale for Deveaux. Bell also assisted on the play.
Carl Hagelin extended the Whale’s lead to 2-0 midway through the second period, scoring his first regular season professional goal off of another excellent pass from Newbury at 7:23. Newbury dangled through the circle on Kinkaid’s left before sliding the puck to a wide-open Hagelin for an easy one-timer.
The Devils closed their deficit to one with 4:04 left in the third, as Whale defenseman Tomas Kundratek was stripped of the puck in front of goaltender Chad Johnson (28 saves) by Joe Whitney. Whitney then beat Johnson glove-side high for his first pro goal. The goal came unassisted.
Albany tied the game with their first power-play goal of the season when Matt Anderson’s shot found its way underneath Johnson. Anderson’s second of the year was assisted by Sislo and Vladimir Zharkov.
Johnson kept the game tied for the Whale and eventually forced overtime after a period that was largely carried by the Devils. The Whale goaltender made multiple saves on Stephane Veilleux, including a stellar glove save that preserved the stalemate.
Neither team could break through in overtime, resulting in the Whale’s second straight shootout, after Connecticut beat Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in their first of the year, 1-0, on Sunday.
The goalies were sharp again in the shootout, but Taormina managed the only goal of the tie-breaker, as Johnson could not hold on to his bid. Taormina’s goal proved the shootout and game-winner, as Kinkaid stopped all five Whale shooters.
“You’ve got to get up for tomorrow and get two points out of that game,” said Johnson. “We’re going to be pretty excited for the home opener, so it should be a good game and I’m looking forward to it.”
Connecticut will host the first Whale home opener Saturday, in a GEICO Connecticut Cup battle against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the XL Center at 7:00. Five-thousand fans at that game will receive a free Whale magnetic schedule, sponsored by Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over. Tickets to the home opener, and all 2011-12 Whale home games, are on sale now at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, as well as on-line at www.ctwhale.com and through TicketMaster Charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000.
To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
Connecticut Whale 2 at Albany Devils 3 (SO)
Friday, October 14, 2011 – Times Union Center
Connecticut 1 1 0 0 – 2
Albany 0 1 1 0 – 3
1st Period-1, Connecticut, Deveaux 1 (Newbury, Bell), 18:46 (PP). Penalties-Nightingale Ct (fighting), 8:33; Veilleux Alb (fighting), 8:33; Sislo Alb (interference), 18:33; Bickel Ct (cross-checking, fighting), 19:56; Zharkov Alb (fighting), 19:56.
2nd Period-2, Connecticut, Hagelin 1 (Newbury), 7:23. 3, Albany, Whitney 1 15:56. Penalties-McKelvie Ct (elbowing), 9:54; Bickel Ct (fighting), 13:48; Corrente Alb (cross-checking, fighting), 13:48; Kundratek Ct (interference), 17:44.
3rd Period-4, Albany, Anderson 2 (Sislo, Zharkov), 5:40 (PP). Penalties-Anderson Alb (high-sticking), 2:16; Tanski Ct (holding), 5:15; Veilleux Alb (slashing), 10:36.
OT Period- No Scoring. Penalties-Bell Ct (misconduct – abuse of officials), 5:00; Sestito Alb (misconduct – abuse of officials), 5:00.
Shootout – Connecticut 0 (Mitchell NG, Thuresson NG, Newbury NG, Audy-Marchessault NG, Deveaux NG), Albany 1 (Wiseman NG, Sislo NG, Whitney NG, Taormina G, Anderson NG).
Shots on Goal-Connecticut 8-12-9-3-0-32. Albany 6-9-13-2-1-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 1 / 4; Albany 1 / 4.
Goalies-Connecticut, Johnson 1-0-1 (30 shots-28 saves). Albany, Kinkaid 1-1-0 (32 shots-30 saves).
A-2,318
Referees-Jarrod Ragusin (42).
Linesmen-Frank Murphy (29), Robert St. Lawrence (10).
