Falcons Start Playoff Push This Weekend With Two Home Games
February 9, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
THIS WEEK'S GAME PREVIEWS
--FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2011 VS. WORCESTER SHARKS--
The Springfield Falcons and Worcester Sharks meet for the fifth time this season when they get together on Friday night at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons are 1-2-0-1 against the Sharks this year, including 0-1-0-1 at The Nest. It's been a very tight season series thus far with two of the first four games being decided in a shootout with each team coming away with a victory. Three of the four games have been one-goal games.
The Falcons currently sit six points behind third place Worcester for the last guaranteed playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. Springfield starts the week with 30 games remaining and 17 of the 30 are on home ice. The Falcons and Sharks will meet three times in February with each contest proving to be an important four-point swing in the battle for playoff positioning.
Worcester has played some very good hockey recently going 4-0-0-1 in their last five games. Falcons rookie forward Tomas Kubalik leads the team with two goals in four games against Worcester this year. Goaltender Gustaf Wesslau has started all four games against Worcester this year posting a 2.66 goals against average and .927 save percentage.
Dan DaSilva leads the Worcester offense against Springfield this year with three goals and one assist for four points in four games. Andrew Desjardins has one goal and three assists in three games against the Falcons this year. Worcester goaltender Alex Stalock has appeared in all four games against Springfield posting a goals against average of 1.92 with a .925 save percentage.
Stalock is second in the AHL in minutes played with 2,397 and also second in saves. He is fifth in the league in wins with 19.
--SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2011 - VS. PROVIDENCE BRUINS-
The Springfield Falcons and Providence Bruins meet for the ninth time this season when they get together on Saturday night at The Nest. The Falcons are 4-4 against the Bruins this year in a season series that has featured neither team winning back to back games. Springfield and Providence enter this week tied with 50 points each in the Atlantic Division.
Tom Sestito remains the Falcons leader in scoring against Providence with two goals and four assists for six points in four games. David Savard has six assists in six games, while Jonathan Sigalet also has six assists in seven games.
Maxime Sauve remains the Bruins leader in scoring against the Falcons with six goals and one assist in eight games.
--SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2011 - AT MANCHESTER MONARCHS-
The Falcons and Monarchs meet for the seventh time this season and this will be the first meeting since January 1 between Springfield and Manchester. The Falcons are 2-4 against the Monarchs this year, including a 3-1 win on New Year's Night.
Manchester remains in first place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 31-16-1-4 good for 67 points. Manchester is 4-0-0-2 in their last six games entering the week and will play three games at home this weekend.
Viatcheslav Voynov leads Manchester in scoring this year with 12 goals and 25 assists for 37 points in 48 games. He also leads all AHL defensemen in scoring this year. The Monarchs have nine players in double digits in goals this year.
Rookie goaltender Martin Jones has been solid for the Monarchs this year posting a record of 18-5-1 with a 2.11 goals against average and .932 save percentage. Jones is fifth in the league in goals against average, fifth in save percentage, and sixth in wins.
PLAYER/TEAM NOTES
Chris D'Alvise is on a four-game scoring streak having collected two goals and three assists in that span.
Rookie Tomas Kubalik has taken over the team lead in scoring with 16 goals and 18 assists for 34 points in 49 games. Kubalik also leads the team in shootout goals this year converting on four of five attempts. Kubalik
collected one goal and two assists on Saturday in Bridgeport and he currently is third in the AHL in rookie scoring.
Tomas Kubalik is currently on a five-game scoring streak collecting two goals and five assists for seven points in that span. Overall, Kubalik has collected at least a point in seven of nine games totaling five goals
and six assists for 11 points in that stretch.
Goaltender Gustaf Wesslau has started the last four straight games and has posted a record of 3-1 with a 1.71 goals against average and .946 save percentage in that span.
Kyle Wilson continues his strong play since joining the Falcons on January 22. Wilson has four goals and three assists for seven points in seven games since being assigned to Springfield by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
LAST WEEK'S GAME RECAPS
---SPRINGFIELD AT PROVIDENCE, FEBRUARY 4 - L - 2-1---
February 4, 2011 - The Springfield Falcons lost to the Providence Bruins 2-1 on Friday night in Providence, RI. The Falcons had their two-game winning streak snapped and they will conclude their five-game road trip on Saturday in Bridgeport, CT.
The Falcons came out and played a strong first period outshooting Providence 13-3 in the opening 20 minutes, but Lane MacDermid gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 8:28 of the opening frame.
There were a pair of fights in the first period just four seconds apart with Kevin Harvey and Matt Bartkowski dropping the gloves followed by Nick Tarnasky and Nathan McIver.
In the second period, the Falcons tied the score at 1-1 when Tomas Kubalik converted on the power play, but Providence regained their lead at 2-1 when Brian McGrattan took advantage of a two-on-one rush and scored his second goal of the year at 17:58 of the middle frame.
In the third period, the Falcons had multiple chances to find the equalizer as Harvey appeared to have scored, but it was ruled the official had blown the whistle. The Falcons also had a shot hit the cross bar late in the final period.
GAME NOTES
Tomas Kana returned to the lineup for the first time since November 13 after having thumb surgery.
SPRINGFIELD FALCONS LINEUP
Tom Sestito - Kyle Wilson - Dane Byers
Kevin Harvey - Nick Tarnasky - Steven Goertzen
Maksim Mayorov - Chris D'Alvise - Tomas Kubalik
Trevor Frischmon - Ben Guite - Tomas Kana
Jonathan Sigalet - Mike Commodore
Nick Holden - David Savard
Cody Goloubef - Brent Regner
Gustaf Wesslau
David LeNeveu
Not in the lineup: Mike Blunden (Injured), Nikita Filatov (Injured), Kyle Neuber (Injured), Trevor Smith (Injured), Theo Ruth (Injured)
---SPRINGFIELD AT BRIDGEPORT, FEBRUARY 5 - W - 4-1--- February 5, 2011 -
The Springfield Falcons scored four unanswered goals and defeated the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4-1 on Saturday night in Bridgeport, CT. The Falcons have now won three of their last four games and improved their record to 23-23-1-3 on the season.
The Sound Tigers opened the scoring in the first period when Rob Hisey set up Justin DiBenedetto at 2:46 of the opening frame giving Bridgeport a 1-0 lead. The Falcons regained some momentum six minutes into the first period when Kevin Harvey and Olivier Labelle dropped the gloves and Harvey ended up scoring the knockdown.
Late in the first period, the Falcons tied the score at 1-1 when Chris D'Alvise one-timed a Tomas Kubalik pass at 19:14 sending the contest all square into the first intermission.
At 17:30 of the second period, the Falcons took their first lead of the night when D'Alvise scored his second marker of the night assisted by Kubalik and Maksim Mayorov.
In the third period, the Falcons expanded their advantage to 3-1 when Kyle Wilson scored on the power play at 1:57. Kubalik added Springfield's second power play goal of the night at 17:11 of the final stanza giving the Falcons a 4-1 lead.
GAME NOTES
Gustaf Wesslau celebrated his 26th birthday stopping 24 of 25 shots.
Chris D'Alvise scored twice, while Tomas Kubalik collected one goal and two assists and Maksim Mayorov added two assists.
SPRINGFIELD FALCONS LINEUP
Tom Sestito - Kyle Wilson - Dane Byers
Kevin Harvey - Nick Tarnasky - Steven Goertzen
Maksim Mayorov - Chris D'Alvise - Tomas Kubalik
Trevor Frischmon - Ben Guite - Tomas Kana
Jonathan Sigalet - Mike Commodore
Nick Holden - David Savard
Cody Goloubef - Brent Regner
Gustaf Wesslau
David LeNeveu
Not in the lineup: Mike Blunden (Injured), Nikita Filatov (Injured), Kyle Neuber (Injured), Trevor Smith (Injured), Theo Ruth (Injured), Mike Ratchuk
TRANSACTIONS
2-4-11 - Columbus Blue Jackets reassign Mike Ratchuk from Fort Wayne to the Springfield Falcons.
2-3-11-Columbus Blue Jackets recall John Moore from the Springfield Falcons.
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