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Falcons Dominate Sound Tigers 5-1

December 11, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL) Springfield Falcons

The Springfield Falcons buried the Bridgeport Sound Tigers by a 5-1 decision on Sunday afternoon at the MassMutual Center. In an offensive outburst, Matt Calvert, David Savard, Alexandre Giroux, and Cam Atkinson lit the lamp for Springfield, bringing the birds back to a .500 record at 12-12-1.

Falcons head coach Rob Riley says his players really wanted to get the win against Bridgeport. "I think it was a must win. The guys really wanted a chance to get a good couple of wins here before Christmas," said Riley.

Falcons' defenseman David Savard scored his first two goals of the season for Springfield in the win. Savard says the hard work finally paid off. "We had six or seven games there where we weren't winning as many games as we had wanted to. Tonight we just wanted to come out hard, throw a lot of shots on goal and play with a game plan, and it worked out well for us," said Savard.

In the first period the Falcons scored two goals in quick succession. The first came with four seconds left on the power play at 8:09 when Calvert sent a slap shot from the right faceoff dot, beating Sound Tigers' goaltender Anders Nilsson through the five hole. Shortly after, the Falcons converted a 2-on-1 break with Martin St. Pierre setting up Giroux for his eighth goal of the season, putting Springfield up by a pair at 9:28. At 10:47 the Sound Tigers' Blair Riley sent a puck off the end board that bounced in front for Benn Olson to find the empty net, cutting the Bridgeport deficit to 2-1 after the first period of play.

At 1:14 of the second frame the Falcons reestablished a two goal lead. Cody Bass dished a puck to Savard at the right dot who slapped home his first goal of the season to put the birds up 3-1. Falcons' goaltender Manny Legace retained the lead for Springfield at 1:05, shutting down Casey Cizikas with the glove on the breakaway. With 1.5 seconds left before the buzzer, Savard sent another slap shot into the back of the net for his second goal of the game at 19:58, lifting the Falcons to a 4-1 lead after two periods.

In the final period the Falcons increased their lead to 5-1. On the power play, St. Pierre faked a shot and set up Cam Atkinson for a one time blocker-side blast at 5:03. Legace held strong for the remainder of the period, putting together a string of saves on a late penalty kill. The Falcons finished the Sound Tigers by a 5-1 score.

Savard says it feels good to contribute the way he would like to. "As a player you go through ups and downs throughout the season and I've just been trying to get my game going, so hopefully I can keep it up until Christmas and continue strong after that."

The Falcons play host to the Worcester Sharks on Tuesday at 6 pm. Springfield is 1-1 against Worcester this season, losing their last matchup 4-3 in overtime at the DCU Center in Worcester on December 2.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 11, 2011


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