For Lowell goaltender, Jeff Frazee, apparently the third time was a charm, as he and his Lowell Devils’ teammates held the high-powered Hershey Bears offense to a single goal, emerging with a 2-1 victory on Friday night at Paul Tsongas Arena.
Frazee, who had suffered a pair of regulation losses during the Devils recent 11-game slide in which they went 2-7-1-1, was solid, if not spectacular, stopping 43 Hershey shots to attain his 24th win of the season.
The Devils, who did not receive a power play in their loss last Saturday night to Portland, were the recipients of the first power play of the game, when Tyler Sloan was whistled off for tripping by referee, Chris Cozzan, at 8:31 of the first period. With Sloan in the penalty box, the Devils apparently struck for the first goal of the game at 8:46; however, Cozzan’s premature whistle, with the puck still not covered by Hershey netminder, Michal Neuvirth, washed off the strike.
Being extremely fortunate to receive the first break of the night, courtesy of Cozzan, the Bears found themselves the recipients of more good fortune when Lowell defenseman, Tyler Eckford, fell in his own zone, turning the puck over to Hershey’s Andrew Joudrey in the process. Joudrey, after gaining possession of the puck, quickly fed Jay Beagle in front of the net, with Beagle converting the pass for his 4th goal of the season at 13:59.
Lowell tied the game at one at 17:20, when Brad Mills’ put-back of a Matthew Vasyunov wrist shot beat Neuvirth.
Only three seconds after the Mills marker, Hershey’s Grant McNeill and Lowell enforcer, Pierre-Luc Leblond, engaged in a spirited fight that saw both players land a few blows, although, there was no clear- cut victor in the bout. The fight was McNeill’s 9th in 8 games after returning to the Hershey lineup after a two-month absence due to a wrist injury.
Hershey enjoyed a huge shot advantage in the second period, outshooting Lowell 14-5, but was not able to find a way to beat Franzee, despite quality chances, within a 35 second span, by Andrew Gordon (hit the post), Kyle Wilson, and Joudrey, midway through the stanza.
Olivier Magnan’s goal, his second of the season, after taking a drop pass from Barry Tallackson, was the only goal of third period and turned out to be the game winning goal for the Devils, who escaped with a 2-1 win.
Notables- The Devils, who are last in the AHL in attendance, announced a crowd of 2,017…With the loss, and Bridgeport’s win over Worcester, the Sound Tigers overtook the Bears for first place in the AHL’s Eastern Division…Hershey played without Chris Bourque, who was recalled earlier in the day by the Washington Capitals…Hershey’s loss, was their 1st in 8 outings this season without the all-star Bourque in the lineup…Keith Aucoin returned to the Hershey lineup after missing last weekend’s victories due to his recall to Washington…Hershey is 4-0 without Aucoin in their lineup this season… Hershey fell to 32-8-1-4 this season when scoring the game’s first goal… The Bears travel to Portland on Saturday, before wrapping up the three game road swing on Sunday in Manchester.