The Albany Devils were back in action Sunday night against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins desperate for a win to try and move up the standings, and once again the Devils fell short. Here are some notes on the 5-4 shootout loss as well as some New Jersey Devils prospect notes.
- Despite losing all three games in some fashion this weekend and registering only two wins in their last 10 games, the Devils are just three wins out of 8th place. With over 75% of the season left, making up three wins won't be too difficult should the Devils get their ducks in a row, but they need to start soon before they fall 10+ points behind. The Devils have a lot of talent in Albany and should be able to contend for a lower level playoff spot, at minimum. I don't know if a coaching change needs to be made to change things up, but something has to be done soon if things don't turn around quick.
- Keith Kinkaid got the start again last night. Back-to-back starts for him, back-to-back games giving up four or more goals in losses. I'm not saying it's his fault, but at some point, whether the defense is struggling or not, you need to steal a win. Kinkaid hasn't done that at all this year, as his 1-5-3 record would show.
- Mattias Tedenby scored a goal last night on a nice feed from Scott Parse. Parse got him the puck in front, and Tedenby made a very nice move in tight to get it to his backhand and put it in the net. Tedenby showed his good hands and finish on the play, something New Jersey could use more of after losing some guy who used to wear No. 9.
- Jacob Josefson also scored a nice goal last night. Josefson was on a breakaway with defenders draped onto him, and he still had the confidence and skill to pull off a nice move and put it in the back of the net.
I've been extremely impressed with Josefson in Albany this year and I've always been a big fan of his game, as you all know, and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see more offense from him in the NHL whenever hockey resumes.
- Bobby Butler had a goal and an assist last night. It was is best game, statistically speaking anyways, of the season in Albany. He'll need to do that more often if he wants to play in New Jersey when all this is over.
- Adam Henrique scored again last night and now has five points in his last four games after a very slow start. He seems to have woken up, which is good for Albany and bad news for the rest of the AHL.
- Adam Larsson recorded an assist and now has nine points in 16 games. That's pretty impressive if you really think about it. He's adjusted very well to playing at the AHL level. I think his time down in Albany is really going to help him out in the long run.
- Eric Gelinas made his return from injury last night and was minus-1 with two shots and four PIMs.
- The latest out of Michigan is that Devils top prospect Jonathan Merrill's neck fracture isn't responding as well as they had hoped and he will miss a few more month's, at least. It wouldn't be surprising if he missed the rest of the season, which is terrible news. Merrill needed another year or two of good development before making the jump to pro hockey and possibly New Jersey, and this is really going to set him back - especially after missing all that time last year due to suspension. Merrill just can't catch a break.
- In the OHL, Ben Johnson was minus-1 in a 4-3 Windsor loss to Saginaw. He's been slumping big time lately. Just one point in the last nine games for him.
- Stefan Matteau scored again last night in a 5-2 BLB Armada win over Gatineau. Matteau finished the game with a goal, a plus-3 rating, four shots, two PIMs and two hits. Not bad.
- Damon Severson was held pointless and was even in an 8-2 Kelowna win over Everett last night. For a guy who plays big minutes, I don't know how he didn't at least get a plus out of that.
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