AHL: Monster Kobasew Nittel The Rat

The Lowell Lock Monsters broke open a 1-1 game at the Pepsi Arena Albany to beat the River Rats 5-3 in what turned out to be the final nail in Albany's playoff coffin.

Prior to this defeat, the Rats had shut out both Bridgeport and Springfield bolstered by the additions of locked-out NHLers Brian Gionta and David Hale.

Chuck Kobasew (Cgy), RW, Lowell

One thing that really stands out about Kobasew is that he is a gamer .. fast, gritty and tremendously skilled .. currently sits tied for second in the AHL with a franchise-record 37 goals and 11th in overall scoring .. also leads the league with a plus-34 rating .. in this game, he gave the Albany defense fits at times and was tough to handle all night long .. also demonstrated that he's no slouch in his own zone either and saw time on the first penalty-killing unit .. scored a powerplay goal on a beautiful top-corner blast and later on ripped a point-shot off the post .. added two assists for a three-point night .. based on this showing, he appears ready to be a full-season contributor with Calgary and will be a welcome addition when the NHL returns.

Brent Krahn (Cgy), G, Lowell

Krahn has definitely suffered from Lowell's joint affiliation between Calgary and Carolina as he's had to share time between the pipes with Hurricanes' prospect Cam Ward .. Big, fast, and agile, Krahn sees the puck well through traffic and displayed very good poise throughout the contest .. faced 42 shots and made several difficult saves while being screened .. none of the three goals he allowed could be considered soft, although he went down a little too soon on a top-shelf goal by Aleksander Suglobov .. Krahn has a shot at backing up Mikka Kiprusoff if there is a regular season in the fall, though he might benefit more from carrying the load with Calgary's new AHL affiliate in Omaha.

David Hale (NJ), D, Albany

Recently returned to the Albany lineup and, along with the addition of Brian Gionta, has energized the River Rats .. Hale has appeared in just 19 games this season due to illness, but has shown the same skills that led to his promotion to the Devils in `03-4 .. matched up all game against Chuck Kobasew, and handled Lowell's top sniper well for the most part .. takes the body well and gets in the face of the opposition .. really excelled at carrying the puck out of his zone and kept his shots low and hard .. good at finding the open man for outlet passes and showed that he can thread passes through traffic when necessary .. strong defensively, Hale is now starting to display some offensive potential and appears to be well-prepared for a full season with the Devils.

Ahren Nittel (NJ), LW, Albany

Despite having played in only 43 games due to a bout of mono, Nittel has potted an eye-opening 24 goals to go along with his nine assists .. even more impressive are his 16 powerplay goals .. though not generally known for his defensive awareness, he did back-check effectively in this contest, tying his man up well when necessary .. hit the post on a shot from the right circle that was so hard it moved the net .. Nittel really excels on the power play, seeing time on the first unit .. won a majority of his faceoffs and moved the puck extremely well with the man advantage, his passes consistently kept the pressure on the opposition .. picked up two assists for the night .. if Nittel continues to develop and improve, he could, along with other prospects like Zach Parise and Aleksander Suglobov, add some scoring punch for the Devils.