DEVILS WEEKLY #11 –WEEKEND SPLIT PUTS LOWELL IN SECOND PLACEDevils defeat Monarchs to pull into three-way tie for second in standingsLast Week:Fri., 12/11 – Devils @ PROVIDENCE BRUINS – L 0-3Sat., 12/12 - Devils @ MANCHESTER MONARCHS – W 3-2This Week:Tue., 12/15 – DEVILS vs. Springfield Falcons, 7:00PMFri., 12/18 – DEVILS vs. Albany River Rats, 7:00PMSat., 12/19 – Devils @ MANCHESTER MONARCHS, 7:00PMSun., 12/20 - Devils @ PROVIDENCE BRUINS, 4:05PMThe Lowell Devils split a pair of road games over the weekend and, at 15-11-3-0, have pulled into a tie forsecond place in the Atlantic Division with the Portland Pirates and Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The Devilswere blanked on Friday by the Providence Bruins, 3-0, but rebounded to edge the Manchester Monarchs,3-2, on Saturday.Lowell will play four games in six days in its final week before the holiday break. The Devils begin onTuesday at home against the Springfield Falcons before hosting the Albany River Rats on Friday for thefirst time this season. Lowell wraps up the weekend with the second straight Saturday road game versusManchester and then a Sunday matinee in Providence.Rewind:Friday, Devils 0 vs. BRUINS 3Dany Sabourin stopped all 35 shots he faced as Providence handed Lowell its second shutout of theseason, 3-0, at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. Zach Hamill had a hand in all three Bruins’ tallies with a goaland two assists in the contest. Craig Weller’s first of the season at 6:25 of the first proved to be the gamewinner.Jeff Frazee stopped 31-of-33 in the loss.Saturday, Devils 3 vs. MONARCHS 2Lowell’s three first period goals were just enough for a 3-2 decision over Manchester at the VerizonWireless Arena. Ben Walter assisted on all the goals as he and linemates Matt Halischuk and BradSnetsinger combined for a goal and six assists in the contest. Olivier Magnan, Halischuk and RobDavison each notched their second goal of the year for Lowell. Dave Meckler and Gabe Gauthier lit thelamp later in the match to pull the Monarchs within one, but Mike McKenna would hold on with 24 saveson the night to secure the win.Around the HornsThe Devils are 8-1-0-0 in the second of back-to-back games...Despite going 0-for-5 this week, Lowell’spower play unit ranks first in the AHL (21.9%) for the first time this season…Lowell is 14-3-2-0 whenscoring three or more goals and 14-2-1-0 when allowing three or less. They have never lost at homewhen allowing three or fewer goals (9-0-0-0)…Ben Walter tied the team season high with three assists onSaturday at Manchester…Matt Halischuk has recorded two multi-point games and five overall points(2g-3a) in three contests since being loaned to Lowell last Saturday…Tim Sestito and brother Tom rank inthe top five in shooting percentage in the AHL. Tom leads the way at 29.2%, while Tim is tied for third at27.3%.Coming UpLowell and Springfield face off on Tuesday for the fifth time in the eight-game season series. The Devilsare 2-2-0-0 against the Falcons, having defeated them both in overtime and the shootout. Springfield hasgone winless is its last nine games (0-7-1-1) to fall into eighth place in the division at 10-13-4-2. LWCharles Linglet is tied for second in scoring with 31 points (7g-24a) and is tied for the league lead with 24assists.On Friday, Albany will make its only visit of the season to the Tsongas Arena. The River Rats are thehottest team in the AHL with seven straight wins and a nine-game point streak (8-0-1-0). At 17-10-1-2,Albany sits just a point behind the first place Hershey Bears in the East Division. Leading the charge hasbeen goalie Justin Peters who has won five in a row while allowing only five goals.The Devils make their second trip in as many weeks to Manchester to battle the Monarchs. Lowell tookthe 2-1 lead in the ten-game season series with its 3-2 victory last weekend. The Monarchs continue todominate on defense, ranking third and allowing only 2.16 goals per game. Manchester has won eight ofits last ten and has opened up a ten-point cushion for first place in the Atlantic with a record of 20-8-1-2.Lowell will battle Providence on Sunday afternoon as they reach the midway point of the ten-gameseason series. The Bruins pulled even with the Devils in the head-to-head match-up by virtue of theirvictory on Friday. Providence ranks seventh in the division at 15-13-1-0, but is just two points behind thethree-way tie for second place between Lowell, Portland and Bridgeport. The Bruins are 12-5-0-0 withBrad Marchand and Trent Whitfield in the line-up.TransactionsDec. 10, 2009- RW Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond recalled from conditioning loan by New Jersey (NHL)Dec. 11, 2009- D Greg Flynn signed to an amateur try-out agreement.Dec. 12, 2009- LW Kevin Cormier reassigned from Trenton (ECHL) by New Jersey (NHL).Leaders for Lowell• Goals: Tim Sestito (9)• Assists: Ben Walter (15)• Points: Ben Walter (22)• PIM: Louis Robitaille (130)• Plus/Minus: Tyler Eckford (+12)• Wins: Mike McKenna (9)• G.A.A.: Mike McKenna (2.52)• Save %: Mike McKenna (.918)- devils -

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