TRENTON,
N.J., (February 22, 2009) -- Kelly Miller scored the deciding goal in the sixth
round of the shootout for the Wheeling Nailers as they defeated the Trenton
Devils, 5-4, at Sovereign Bank Arena Sunday night. The Devils were able to earn
a point after climbing back from a three-goal deficit.
Bryan
Ewing started the scoring 12:46 into the contest with his 34th goal
of the season, his first against the Devils. He assisted on Billy Ryan's first
professional goal at 17:01 to give Wheeling an early two-goal advantage.
Just 56
seconds later, Brad Snetsinger followed up on his hat trick from the previous
night by flipping a shot over the left shoulder of Nailers goaltender Jordan
Alford, his 17th goal of the season. The goal put the Devils within
one going into the first intermission.
The second
period was not a good start for the Devils as they gave up two early goals to
the Nailers. Jordan Morrison scored 25 seconds into the stanza and Ewing added
his second goal at 2:57, signaling a switch in goal for the Devils as Charlie
Effinger came in relief of Gerald Coleman.
The
Devils picked up their level of play in the middle of the second, and were duly
rewarded, as Scott Bartlett found a loose puck to the right of Alford and fired
it in for his fourth goal of the season at 10:55.
Jeremy
Akeson pulled the Devils back within a goal on the power play, as the power
forward took the puck from behind the net and wrapped it in past Alford at
15:13.
Matt
Cohen forced overtime with 6:47 left in regulation as he ripped a shot off the
glove of Alford and into the net on the power play, his 11th goal of
the season.
Although
the Devils controlled the final 25 minutes of play, outshooting the Nailers
25-8 in that stretch, they would fall in the shootout. With the score tied at
two in round six, Miller was able to beat Effinger stick side to finish off the
Devils.
Cohen,
Snetsinger, Eric Castonguay, and Ryan Gunderson each had two-point nights for
the Devils. Effinger stopped all 12 shots in his relief appearance to help the
Devils earn a point.
The Devils return to the ice Tuesday evening for a
re-match against the Nailers, with the puck drop set for 7:00 p.m. Tickets are
available by logging onto the Devils' official website, www.trentondevils.com.
TRENTON
DEVILS - The Trenton Devils are a
member of the ECHL -- North America's Premier "AA" Hockey League. The Trenton Devils are owned and operated by
the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League.
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