October 31, 2009- In a special Halloween Matinee afternoon game, the Falcons were unable to give the fans a treat, as they fell to the Lowell Devils 3-2 in overtime. However, the Falcons did earn a point for the fifth straight game (2-0-2-1).The first period started out slow, but the excitement picked up about halfway through when Springfield struck first on Charles Linglet's fourth goal of the season at the 11:02 mark. Setting up Linglet with a nice pass was Colton Fretter earning his third assist of the year. The Devils were able to answer back quickly on a power play goal 28 seconds later by Matt Taormina to even the score at one goal apiece. Despite being outshot 18-6 in the first, Springfield was able to end the period in a 1-1 tie.
"We couldn't get much going [on special teams play]," said Falcons Head Coach Rob Daum, "We spent too much time in the first period killing penalties and took our momentum away. We missed [Chris] Minard obviously on the power play. He has five power play goals.But if that's the case somebody else gets the opportunity and has to seize it and today we didn't do it."
Lowell, on the other hand, was able to score at 13:45 of the second period with a goal by Nick Palmieri to take a 2-1 lead.
Springfield started out slow in the third period, unable to convert on a 5-on-3 power play. The Falcons did not quit though, as Ryan Potulny connected on a slap shot to tie the game up at two with 13 minutes left in the game. Both teams were able to withstand the opponent's offense attack to send the game to overtime for the second time this season between these two teams.
In the five minute overtime, the Falcons were outshot 3-0 and the third shot by the Devils found the back of the net behind a slap shot by former Springfield Falcons Captain and now Lowell Devils forward Tim Sestito to give Lowell the two points and the win.
"Our guy just made a drop pass," said Sestito on his game winning goal, "I kind of used the defense as a screen. Not going to lie, I wasn't really aiming there. I was trying to get it on net and I'll take it. I wanted one bad."
The Falcons never seemed to get into a rhythm and felt fortunate to come away with a point in today's game.
"A very fortunate to get a point tonight," said Coach Daum, "We didn't deserve a point in this game based on the way the game was played."
In the third game between these two teams, one constant in the first two was the physical play. The first period in Saturday afternoon's game was no different, as three fights broke out. The first came after the Falcons first goal of the game when Ryan MacMurchy took down Brad Snetsinger.
Later in the period, Falcons forward Kip Brennan and Louis Robitaille dropped the gloves. The final altercation of the first period was between Falcons rookie Alex Plante and Lowell's Kevin Cormier. During the second period, Lowell's Robitaille and Falcons Captain Dean Arsene clashed in the fourth fight of the game and only one in the second 20-minutes.
Earning the second star of the game for the Falcons was goalie Devan Dubnyk who saved 38 of the 41 shots on goal. Leading the Falcons with two points in the game was Charles Linglet (1 G, 1 A). Springfield was outshot in every stanza in the game, except for the third, and Springfield was outshot overall 41-23 by the visiting Devils.
"We didn't have our A game and still managed to get a point," said Falcons Defenseman Chris Armstrong, "If we bring our A game and play well tomorrow, we can look back and say okay we had a pretty good weekend."
Springfield will look to make it a successful weekend as they travel to Worcester tomorrow afternoon to take on the Sharks at 3pm. The next home game for Springfield is Friday, November 6, at 7:30pm against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
Game Notes Chris Minard, Falcons team leader in points and goals, did not play in today's game due to injury.With the special 3pm Halloween Matinee start of the game, the kids in attendance were able to dress up in their costumes and go trick or treating during the game's first intermission inside the MassMutual Center.The official attendance for today's special Halloween Matinee game was 2,099.Defenseman Alex Plante left the game in the third with an injury, but returned later in the period.
Three Stars of the Game 1st Star- Lowell's Tim Sestito 2nd Star- Springfield's Devan Dubnyk 3rd Star- Springfield's Charles Linglet
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