The Springfield Falcons lost to the Worcester Sharks 3-2 in front of 2,536 at the MassMutual Center Wednesday night. This contest marked the first time this season that Springfield hasn't earned at least a point on home ice as they now have a record of 6-1-2-1 at The Nest.The game featured a battle of rookie goaltenders as Worcester's Alex Stalock earned the victory over Springfield's Aaron Sorochan, but special teams came into play throughout the 60 minutes.
"Penalties took the momentum and game away," said Falcons Head Coach Rob Daum, "And they didn't give us any opportunities to get back into any type of flow. They took some of our guys out of the game because of that and when we are at our best we're playing 5 on 5."
However, the difference in the first period was the Falcons special teams outplaying Worcester's special teams. Springfield took advantage of their one and only power play in the first with a Colton Fretter goal halfway through the period. The goal was set up by Theo Peckham's shot that hit off the post. The goal extended Fretter's scoring streak to eight games overall as well as nine straight home games with a point.
"He's been playing extremely well...," said Coach Daum on Fretter, "Ever since [Chris] Minard went out of the lineup. He's been one guy that has really picked it up for us."
Worcester had their chances in the first period with four power play chances including a 2-man advantage early on in the stanza. However, the Sharks could not find the back of the net against Falcons goalie Sorochan. Sorochan made his third career start tonight and first home start at the MassMutual Center. Sorochan played well stopping 29 of 32 shots.
"He was fine," said Coach Daum on Sorochan's play in goal, "Goaltending wasn't the issue in this game. He gave us a chance to win and that's what you need from your goalie every night and he did that. We just didn't take advantage of it."
Springfield came out aggressive in the first period outshooting the Sharks 12-8 through the first twenty minutes. This is a little surprising because coming into the game, Springfield ranked last in shots on goal per game in the AHL and the Sharks are second in the AHL in shots on goal.
Worcester continued to get their chances on the power play in the second period with three more opportunities. Worcester's first power play of the second period was technically not successful, but only one second into even strength Worcester's Trent Campbell scored his first goal of the year to tie the game up. Later in the period, Worcester recorded their first official power play goal thanks to Ryan Vesce's third goal of the season. The Sharks had a 2-1 lead with less than five minutes left in the second period.
After a Peckham check on Nick Petrecki, the teams both got into a melee and dropped the gloves. This led to a Falcons power play opportunity which Fretter seemed to score on immediately, but was later ruled not a goal. The ruling was that a tripping penalty on the Sharks occurred before the puck crossed the goal line. Springfield was now on a 5 on 3 advantage and this time Fretter did convert as he scored his second goal of the game. Cody Wild assisted on the play.
"Confidence is a big thing in hockey," said Fretter on his quality play recently, "Right now I got a good line going and I'm just going to keep going with it."
The Worcester power play chances continued to increase as the third period started. Less than four minutes into the period, the Sharks' Logan Couture gave Worcester the 3-2 lead. Springfield had their chance halfway through the final period with a power play opportunity of their own, but were not able to find a way past Stalock.
Later in the third, Springfield's Kip Brennan dropped the gloves with Worcester's Joe Loprieno. Brennan got in a few more punches than Loprieno as he won the scuffle. During the last 40 minutes of play, the physical play between the teams intensified leading to a combined total of 62 penalty minutes.
The Sharks outshot Springfield 24-14 in the final two periods and 32-26 overall. Worcester was 0-4 on the power in the first period, but went 2-4 after.
"We had a good start," said Fretter on the team's first home loss in regulation, "But penalties got us in trouble today. If you take that many penalties you can't really expect to win...If you don't get a point obviously you didn't do what you came to do, so it's pretty disappointing."
The Falcons will continue their busy week of games on Friday when they travel to Manchester, NH to take on the Monarchs. The Falcons would like to wish all the fans out there a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday.
Game Notes
Center Jason Morgan played in a Springfield Falcons uniform for the first time since the 2000-01 season...The official attendance in the game was 2,536...Falcons leading goal scorer Chris Minard missed his tenth consecutive game due to injury. Springfield is 5-3-2-0 in those games...This is the first game since October 25 where Devan Dubnyk did not start in goal for the Falcons.
Three Stars of Game
1st Star- Ryan Vesce (1 G, 1 A) - WOR
2nd Star- Colton Fretter (2 G) - SPR
3rd Star- Mike Moore (2 A) - WOR
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