NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Falcons Weekly Update

January 8, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


THIS WEEK'S GAME PREVIEWS

--FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 2008 - SPRINGFIELD FALCONS AT LOWELL DEVILS--

The Springfield Falcons prepare to meet the Lowell Devils for the third time in two weeks on Friday night at Paul E. Tsongas Arena. The Falcons lead the season series thus far 5-1. The Devils are currently in seventh place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 13-19-3-3 (32 pts). Petr Vrana leads the Devils offensive attack with 34 total points (8 goals, 26 assists) followed by Noah Clarke with 27 pts, and Barry Tallackson with 23 points. Vrana also leads Lowell in scoring against Springfield with two goals and five assists for seven points in six games. Both teams benefit from several days of rest, each not having played since the 5th of the month, and both being victorious in their last game played. The Falcons are a perfect 3-0 in Lowell this season. Jean-Francois Jacques leads Springfield with five goals and four assists for nine points in six games against the Devils this year. Colin McDonald is second in goals against Lowell with four.

--SATURDAY, JANUARY 12, 2008 - SPRINGFIELD FALCONS AT BRIDGEPORT SOUND TIGERS--

The Springfield Falcons travel to Bridgeport to face the Sound Tigers for the only time this season. Bridgeport holds a record of 17-18-1-0, good for sixth in the East Division. The two teams have only met once this season, with the Sound Tigers beating the Falcons 7-2 back on December 7. Bridgeport's Jeff Tambellini is the Sound Tigers leading scorer with 41 points, good for fifth best in the league. Tambellini is second in the league in goals with 22.

--SUNDAY, JANUARY 13, 2008 - SPRINGFIELD FALCONS AT PROVIDENCE BRUINS--

The Springfield Falcons cap off their three game road trip by traveling to Providence to play the red hot Bruins who have lately gotten the best of this head to head match up. Providence sits atop of the league with a record of 29-5-2-1 which gives them 61 total points. Providence has won the last two meetings between these two teams, most recently beating Springfield 4-3 back on January 4. The Falcons are 2-2-1-0 in the season series as the last four contests having been one-goal games. Defenseman T.J. Kemp leads Springfield in scoring against Providence with six assists in four games, while Marc Pouliot leads the way with three goals against the Bruins this season. Vladimir Sobotka has three goals and four assists for seven points in four games against the Falcons. Sobotka, Pascal Pelletier and Chris Collins all lead the Providence attack with three goals against Springfield.

LAST WEEK'S GAME RECAPS

---SPRINGFIELD vs. PROVIDENCE, DECEMBER 31 - L - 3-2 (OT) ---

December 31, 2007 - The Springfield Falcons lost to the Providence Bruins 3-2 in overtime on Monday afternoon in front of 3,103 at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to tie the game at 2-2 late in the third period, but Providence's Sean Curry scored the game-winner in the extra session.

Trailing 2-1 in the third period, Springfield's Rob Schremp evened the score at 2-2 when he tallied a power play goal at 15:07 of the final frame.

"We battled hard tonight and we are obviously disappointed with the results, but we played a pretty solid game and gave everything we had," said Schremp, who leads the team with 36 points in 34 games. "On the goal, you just try to get the puck on goal and something good will happen, we got a point tonight and we will carry that into Wednesday."

Providence built a 2-0 lead in the first period when they received a power play goal from Vladimir Sobotka and a shorthanded marker from Jeff Hoggan giving the Bruins a two-goal cushion through 20 minutes of play.

In the second period, Springfield's Marc Pouliot scored on a five-on-three power play cutting the Falcons' deficit to 2-1 heading into the third period.

Springfield goaltender Jeff Deslauriers was steady once again stopping 30 of 33 shots, while Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask stopped 23 of 25 shots.

---SPRINGFIELD at LOWELL, JANUARY 2 - W- 4-3 (SO) ---

January 2, 2008 - The Springfield Falcons beat the Lowell Devils 4-3 in a shootout on Wednesday night at the Paul Tsongas Arena. In the shootout, Viacheslav Trukhno kept the game alive on the fifth and final shot, while Rob Schremp won the game on Springfield's sixth shot of the extra session.

In a wild conclusion to a very entertaining game, Lowell rallied from a 3-0 deficit to score three third period markers sending the contest to an extra frame. Ivan Khomutov, Petr Vrana, and Grant Marshall all tallied in the final frame for Lowell evening the score at 3-3.

"Well, we needed a win and we collected the two points we wanted," said Falcons head coach Kelly Buchberger. "I thought we played very well for 55 minutes, and we have to play a full 60 minutes. Momentum is a crazy thing in this game, sometimes you can't explain it, but we found a way to win."

In the shootout, Lowell led 1-0 until Trukhno scored on Springfield's final shot. Trukhno's marker brought some controversy as the referees originally ruled it was a goal, then signaled no goal, followed by a goal call once again. After Jeff Deslauriers stopped Lowell's Ryan Murphy, Schremp beat Lowell netminder Frank Doyle ending an exciting night.

"They originally ruled goal, but I think the referee thought Trukhno used his forward momentum to score," said Buchberger. "But we knew he didn't, and we were happy they made the right call."

Springfield built a 3-0 lead in the second period as Jean-Francois Jacques scored his ninth marker of the year at 3:28, followed by Colin McDonald's second marker of the night, this time on the power play, at 14:59 of the middle session.

McDonald opened the scoring at 4:12 of the first period assisted by Schremp and Rick Berry giving the Falcons a one-goal lead after the opening frame.

---SPRINGFIELD vs. PROVIDENCE, JANUARY 4 - L - 4-3---

January 4, 2008 - The Springfield Falcons lost to the Providence Bruins 4-3 on Friday night in front of 3,291 at the MassMutual Center. The Bruins used a pair of third period power play goals to erase a 3-2 Springfield lead in the final frame. Vladimir Sobotka tied the score at 3-3 with his second power play marker of the contest at 14:51 of the third period, followed by Pascal Pelletier's game-winner at 16:33 of the third period.

"Well, we have a young team and you have to learn from your mistakes," said Falcons head coach Kelly Buchberger, who saw his team receive four power play chances to Providence's eight. "We are aware of the mistakes we made, we had a five-minute stretch late in the game where we lost some focus, and it cost us. You have to be accountable for your play and we will be ready to work again Saturday."

The Falcons built a 3-2 lead in a crazy second period. After a scoreless first period, the two teams combined for five goals in the middle stanza and a pair of lead changes. Providence opened the scoring just 23-seconds into the second period when Chris Collins tallied his 12th marker of the year. The Falcons pulled even at 4:39 of the middle frame when Marc Pouliot fired a backhander past Providence goaltander Tuukka Rask. Sobotka regained the Bruins lead at 2-1 with a goal on the man advantage, only to see Colin McDonald tie the score at 2-2 with a power play marker at 18:14 of the second period. With just seven-seconds remaining in the second frame, Viacheslav Trukhno fired a slap shot past Rask giving the Falcons a 3-2 lead heading into the third period.

"We had the opportunity to win the game," said Falcons captain Rick Berry. "If we want to make sure we are a good team, we have to continue to stress the importance of playing a full 60 minutes."

Falcons goaltender Jeff Deslauriers stopped 35 of 39 shots on goal, while Rask made 24 saves on 27 shots.

---SPRINGFIELD at PORTLAND, JANUARY 5 - W - 2-1---

January 5, 2008 - The Springfield Falcons beat the Portland Pirates 2-1 in front of 3,415 on Saturday night at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons cut their deficit for third place to four points. Marc Pouliot scored a shorthanded goal at 2:14 of the opening frame giving Springfield a 1-0 lead, followed by Troy Bodie's fifth marker of the campaign at 17:36 of the first period.

The Pirates cut their deficit to 2-1 at 3:32 of the third period when Petteri Wirtanen tallied his fifth goal of the year, but Falcons goaltender Jeff Deslauriers held the fort making 33 saves and earning the game's top star.

PLAYER NOTES:

Springfield Falcons center Marc Pouliot is currently on a four-game scoring streak collecting three goals and three assists for six points in that span. Pouliot has been voted a star in three of his last four games. Pouliot is currently second on the team in scoring with 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points in 28 games and he is also the team's active leader in goals with 10, and leader in power play goals with five. Pouliot recorded his 100th career AHL point on January 5.

Falcons rookie Colin McDonald scored three goals in four games last week and he is currently tied for second on the club for the active lead in goals. McDonald was the game's first star on January 2 at Lowell when he scored two goals, his first multi-goal game of his career.

Jean-Francois Jacques has recorded points in three straight games collecting one goal and two assists in that span. Jacques is tied for second as the active team leader in goals with nine.

Defenseman T.J. Kemp has four assists in his last four games. Kemp is currently eighth in the AHL in scoring among defensemen collecting three goals and 21 assists for 24 points in 32 games.

Goaltender Jeff Deslauriers remains tied for the league lead in wins with 16. Deslauriers was the game's first star on January 5 against Portland stopping 33 of 34 shots.

INJURY REPORT

T.J. Reynolds, Liam Reddox, Tyler Spurgeon, Jacob Micflikier, Sebastien Bisaillon all missed games due to injury.

TRANSACTIONS

01/07/2008 Brad Farynuk (D) Springfield DEL Returned on loan to Stockton (ECHL)

01/06/2008 Curtiss Patrick (D) Springfield DEL Released from PTO

01/05/2008 Brad Farynuk (D) Springfield ADD Recalled from loan to Stockton (ECHL)

01/05/2008 Curtiss Patrick (D) Springfield ADD Signed to PTO

01/02/2008 Brad Farynuk (D) Springfield DEL Loaned to Stockton (ECHL)

01/02/2008 Danny Syvret (D) Springfield ADD Reassigned by Edmonton (NHL) from Canadian Nat'l Team

ON THE FARM - STOCKTON THUNDER

The Thunder hits the road for a three-game series at Sullivan Arena against the Alaska Aces starting Wednesday, where the Aces are 69-13-6 over the last three seasons. The Thunder has a 3-2-0 record this season against the Aces and became one of three visiting teams in the past 32 games to win in Sullivan Arena on December 12.

WEEK IN REVIEW

DECEMBER 31 Springfield 2 vs. Providence 3 (OT) (Goals- Pouliot, Schremp)

JANUARY 2 Springfield 4 at Lowell 3 (SO) (McDonald (2), Jacques)

JANUARY 4 Springfield 3 vs. Providence 4 (Trukhno, McDonald, Pouliot)

JANUARY 5 Springfield 2 vs. Portland 1 (Bodie, Pouliot)

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

JANUARY 11 Springfield at Lowell 7:05 PM Paul E. Tsongas Arena

JANUARY 12 Springfield at Bridgeport 7:00 PM Arena at Harbor Yard

JANUARY 13 Springfield at Providence 4:05 PM Dunkin' Donuts Center

*Radio Broadcasts on WHYN AM 560

*Watch Live on the B-2 Network

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...

American Hockey League Stories from January 8, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Springfield Falcons Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central