Sunday, December 2, 2007

Explosive Third Period Lifts Devils over Monarchs, 6-3
Stephen Gionta's hat trick highlights five-goal period for Lowell

LOWELL, Mass. - The Lowell Devils registered a season-high five-goal output in the third period and Stephen Gionta recorded the team's first hat trick of the season en route to a 6-3 drubbing of the Manchester Monarchs on Sunday at the Tsongas Arena.

After forty minutes of hockey, the game stood tied at 1-1, but the first four and a half minutes of the third would feature four goals.  Noah Clarke got it started fifty seconds in to the frame when Barry Tallackson found him alone in the slot for a wrist shot that sailed past the glove of Dan Cloutier.  Under forty seconds later, Patrick Davis made the score 3-1 in favor of the Devils as he got a piece of a puck in a scrum in front of Cloutier that spiraled over the goalie’s shoulder and found paydirt. 

Manchester would pull within one 1:43 after Davis’ goal when Lowell coughed up the puck down low and Giuliano fired a Jeff Likens pass through the five-hole of Frank Doyle. 

Gionta put the Devils back up by two and completed the flurry with his second goal of the night.  The newly named Devils’ captain started the series with a hit on the forecheck that jarred the puck loose behind Cloutier.  Benoit Mondou was there to get it back to Gionta for a wraparound shot that clipped off a d-man’s skate and across the goal line. 

A turnover by the Monarchs at center ice led to a 2-on-1 rush with Petr Vrana feeding Tallackson for the easy tap-in that made it 5-2 midway through the third.  Though Troy Milam’s power play goal a minute later pulled Manchester back within two, it took just twenty more seconds for Gionta to complete his hat trick, taking the rebound from Mondou’s wrist shot and stuffing it inside the near post.

The Devils broke the scoreless tie at the beginning of the second period after Manchester’s Matt Ryan was assessed an interference penalty.  Clarke threw a pass into the slot for an open Gionta, who quickly released a shot that whizzed by Cloutier’s leg pad.  David Meckler’s goal at 16:06 of the middle stanza knotted the score for the Monarchs at 1-1

Doyle made 34 saves to pick up his first win since November 2, a 3-2 victory over Manchester.  Lowell’s special teams went 1-for-3 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill as the Devils are now 4-0-0 against Manchester this season. 

It’s Dollar Dawg night on Wednesday, Decmber 5 when the Lowell Devils face the Springfield Falcons at 7:05 p.m.  Listen to all of the action live on 980AM-WCAP as Ryan Johnston brings you all of the play-by-play. Tickets start at just $10; call the Devils office at (978) 458-PUCK for more information or visit www.lowelldevilshockey.com.

 

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