The Springfield Falcons and Albany River Rats will meet for the second time this season when they get together on Sunday afternoon at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons and River Rats met for the first time this year back on October 30 with Springfield earning a 4-3 shootout win over Albany on that evening at the Times Union Center. Chris Minard scored a pair of goals in regulation back on October 30, while also adding a marker in the shootout. Slava Trukhno also converted on a penalty shot in the first meeting between the Falcons and Rats.The Falcons built a 2-0 lead against the Rats back on October 30, but Matthew Pistilli and Zach Boychuk scored for Albany tying the score at 2-2. Following Minard's second marker of the game giving Springfield a 3-2 third period lead, Pistilli tallied his second marker of the contest as well sending the game to overtime.
The Falcons head into Sunday's action having earned a point on Friday in a 3-2 overtime loss suffered against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at The Nest. After falling behind 2-0 in the second period, the Falcons rallied against the Sound Tigers with Charles Linglet and Chad Wiseman scoring for the Falcons and sending the game to extra time. Colton Fretter assisted on both Springfield goals on Friday, with linemates Linglet (1g, 1a) and Wiseman (1g,1a) also collecting multi-point nights. Springfield has earned a point in all seven home games this year going 4-0-2-1 in that span.
The River Rats beat the Norfolk Admirals 2-1 in overtime on Saturday night to improve their record to 8-7-0-2 on the season. Albany tied the score with just 1:55 remaining in regulation when Pat Dwyer scored his eighth goal of the year sending the contest to overtime. In the extra session, Dwyer assisted on Zach Boychuk's game-winning goal leading the Rats to victory. Goaltender Justin Peters stopped 19 of 20 shots to earn the win between the pipes.
LINGLET MOVING UP: Falcons forward Charles Linglet has moved into fourth in the AHL in scoring with six goals and 13 assists for 19 points in 16 games this year. Linglet continues to lead the Falcons in scoring and he also leads Springfield in plus/minus with a +9 rating. Linglet has recorded at least a point in 12 of Springfield's 16 games...Chad Wiseman is on a three-game scoring streak with three goals and two assists for five points in that span. Wiseman scored the game-tying goal on Friday night for Springfield...Colton Fretter is also on a three-game scoring streak collecting one goal and four assists in that span.
ARSENE RECALLED BY OILERS: The Falcons announced Saturday that defenseman Dean Arsene has been recalled by their National Hockey League affiliate, the Edmonton Oilers. Arsene is expected to join the Oilers in Atlanta as they prepare to take on the Thrashers on Sunday.
RIVER RATS PLAYER NOTES
* Jerome Samson leads Albany in scoring with six goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 17 games.
* Pat Dwyer leads the Rats with eight goals on the year.
* The Rats have five rookies in their top seven for scoring this year. Drayson Bowman, Stefan Chaput, Zach Boychuk, Chris Terry, and Jamie McBain have all started their pro career with Albany.
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