Posted by Gayle Simone, Sun Staff

Wow, now that was a hockey game!

I honestly didn't think the game was going to end in the fashion that it did and I think the fans at the Tsongas (attendance announced was 985, but I would've guessed under 500) expected to go home having seen Lowell get shut out for the second straight game.

But midway through the third not only did Ivan Khomutov score his sixth of the year to avoid the shut out, but with in six minutes Lowell had battled back to tie the game and Frank Doyle made the saves to earn his club at least the point.

"I saw so hard they were working and knew I had to come up with the next big save to give us a chance," Doyle said.

Doyle did just that stopping the eight shots he faced in the third period and over time.

In the shootout, things got a bit confusing.

If you have never seen a shootout in the AHL, the first thing you need to realize is the rules are different than they are in the NHL. First, there are five rounds, not three and secondly, you don't use your whole bench if the shooutout goes to extra rounds, you use the same five players who took shots in the first five rounds. Make sense? Good.

Ryan Murphy scored on his first shootout attemp giving Lowell the 1-0 lead and Frank Doyle made saves on the first four shooters he faced.

Then it happened. Referee Terry Koharski signaled "NO GOAL" on Springfield's fifth and final attempt, only to have him change his mind less than 30 seconds later - the goal was allowed and the Devils had to be called back to the ice from their locker room... confused again?
I certainly was!

It wasn't until after the game that I found out Koharski called it a "no goal" because he thought the puck crossed the goal line on a second shot - meaning a rebound. Koharski was informed by one of the linesman that the puck crossed the goal line because of Doyle's momentum, a fact Doyle agreed with.

“It’s kind of a tricky call but in the end it’s probably the right call,” Doyle said. “I made the save but my own momentum ended up kicking the puck back, I think he made the right call.”

Kleinendorst called the game an emotional rollercoaster but was happy to at least get a point.

“We’re happy with the point,” Kleinendorst said. “I’m not thrilled to be down three to nothing in the third period, at home, in a game that we felt we should have won, not happy about that. But we battled back and worked hard to tie the game, yeah that makes me happy. It’s a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster really, but all in all a good point. ”

It was a great hockey game, unfortunatley Lowell didn't get the two points.

The Devils next game is Friday night in Philadelphia, when they take on the Phantoms at 7:05 p.m.