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Cincinnati, OH - The Devils compiled 41 penalty minutes and could not generate much offense in a 3-1 loss Tuesday morning in Cincinnati. A back and forth opening six minutes left the Devils trailing 2-1 midway in the first, but penalty after penalty forced the Devils into 12 penalty kills and the sluggish offense managed only 17 shots, a season low. Falling behind 84 seconds into the game on Matt Pierce's 10th goal of the season and first of two in the game, Kyle Kucharski tied the score just four minutes later. A breakout pass from Andy Thomas to Tim Kunes started a two-on-one breakaway for the Devils with Kunes skating down the left wing, flanked by Kucharski to the right. A tape to tape pass across the slot led Kucharski toward the net and he beat Jeremy Smith on the Devils first shot of the game. Kucharski has three of his five goals in the last six games. Thomas has registered points in back to back games.

Less than a minute after the Devils knotted the game at 1-1, the game was untied by Scott Reynolds of the Cyclones. Gathering a loose puck in the slot, Reynolds quickly shot it past Dave Caruso's glove side for his fifth goal of the year. Assists were credited to Dustin Sproat and Mark O'Leary. Taking a 2-1 lead at 6:14, Cincinnati would keep the pressure on Trenton with the help of consecutive power plays after penalties to Matt Torti and Brett Wilson two minutes after the other.

The Devils killed off penalty after penalty, including both Cincinnati power plays in the first and five more in the second. But the extended durations shorthanded crippled the Devils offense, putting shots on goal only six times in the first and three times in the second, a season low. At one stretch of the second period, the Cyclones had a five minute power play, spending four of those minutes with a five-on-three advantage. Myles Stoesz had been called for instigating and fighting, with only a minor penalty of cross-checking to Cincinnati's O'Leary. During the five-minute kill, Jeremy Akeson picked up a 2-and-10 for unsportsmanlike conduct and Andy Thomas received a minor for interference at 14:07.

The Devils finally allowed a Cyclones power play goal on the ninth opportunity of the game. At 3:09 of the third, Dan Eves was charged with Trenton's 11th infraction of the game, a tripping minor, coming just two seconds after the Devils had killed off a misconduct penalty to Wilson. The penalty killers could not endure another chance, and Matt Pierce scored on a right wing slap over Caruso's blocker on the long side. The Devils sustained three more shorthanded disadvantages, but in the process could not find the time to turn the offense around and lost 3-1. their fourth consecutive loss.

Jeremy Smith made 16 saves, earning his fourth win in his ninth game. Caruso made 30 saves, losing his fifth. Stuck in third place (5-6-1-2, 13pts) Trenton again takes on Cincinnati (6-5-0-1, 13pts) Wednesday night at US Bank Arena for a 7:30 p.m. start. Follow the Devils with Dan D'Uva's live play-by-play HERE.