Before we go forward with the Devils-Phantoms rematch at the Glens Falls Civic Center, let’s look back at the previous matchup on Tuesday:
I was not in attendance due to work obligations, turned out I missed a lot. The Devils came flying out in the first period, scoring 3 goals in the first 5 minutes on Phantoms goalie Johan Backlund. Recent Trenton callup Ryan Ginand scored 29 seconds in, followed by Brad Mills and Adam Henrique (on the power play) within a minute of each other. Newest Phantom Matt Read scored his second since joining the team last week to get the Phantoms on the board. Second period, things started to get interesting. Thirteen seconds into the period (saw the replay on TV) Tom Sestito trips Jeff Frazee behind the net. Nathan Perkovich jumps in and the two go a round. That was just the beginning for Tim’s evil big little brother. New Devil Joe Sova scored his first goal on the ensuing power play to spot a 4-1 lead for the hosts. Another Phantom rookie, Harry Zolnierczyk, scored his 3rd to cut the deficit to 4-2. Then halfway through the period the gloves came off literally. Pierre-Luc Leblond tried to goad Sestito into fighting to no avail, he got a double minor and 10 minutes for his efforts. About a minute later, M.A. Bourdon and Chris Murray get into it, during the skirmish Sestito could be seen pummeling Darcy Zajac to the ice (as my friend Reid would say, he was beating him like Darcy owed him money). For that, he got an instigator, fighting, 10 minute and a game misconduct. Incase you’re keeping score, that would be 34 minutes total. After peace was finally restored, it was back to action. The Devils tacked on two more goals in the 3rd (Brad Mills scored his 2nd and Nathan Perkovich added one), holding on to a 6-2 victory and taking the lead in the Time Warner Cable Cup run (more on that in a minute).
Now looking ahead to tonight:
-Season: This is meeting #11 of 12 between the two teams, with the Devils holding a 6-4 lead. They can clinch the Time Warner Cable Cup for the second straight year with a victory tonight or in the final meeting in Glens Falls on April 6th.
-Standings: The Phantoms stand in 8th place in the East Division with a record of 26-37-4-6 and 62 points, 5 points behind Albany. The Devils are in 7th with a 31-37-1-4 mark and 67 points, 2 points behind 6th place Syracuse.
Game time: 7:30 PM. Also Day 2 of my self-declared 9 Days of Devils event, I will be tweeting from the Civic Center in my $10 seat thanks to a Time Warner Cable promotion. The game is also being televised on TWC Sports (and yes the DVR is set).
Thoughts Inside The Box 