Falcons Fall to Whale 6-3 - Atkinson Scores AHL Leading 13th Power Play Goal
February 17, 2012 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
The Springfield Falcons lost to the Connecticut Whale by a score of 6-3 on Friday night at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. The Falcons carried a 3-2 lead late into the second period, but Connecticut responded with four unanswered goals of their own way to victory. The Falcons will get back in game action on Saturday when they host the Providence Bruins at the MassMutual Center starting at 7 pm.
Trailing 2-1 entering the second period, the Falcons responded in the middle frame as they would erase their one goal deficit and build a lead of their own before the frame was over. At 4:13 of the middle period, Cody Bass whistled a slap shot from the high slot past Connecticut goaltender Cameron Talbot evening the score at 2-2.
With the Falcons holding on to momentum, captain Dane Byers one-timed a perfect feed from Tomas Kubalik at the top of the crease putting Springfield on top 3-2 at 13:43 of the second period. Connecticut would respond and at 18:21 of the middle stanza, Ryan Bourque tied the score at 3-3 when he knocked home a rebound at the top of the crease sending the game deadlocked heading into the third period.
In the third period, Connecticut regained their one goal advantage when Andre Deveaux converted on the power play at 8:05 of the final frame. At 14:57, Bourque added his second marker of the game as he wristed a shot past Falcons goaltender Paul Dainton right off the faceoff expanding the Whale lead to 5-3. Casey Wellman added some insurance for the Whale giving them a 6-3 cushion at 17:46 of the final period.
Connecticut opened the scoring early in the first period when Deveaux's slap shot from the right faceoff circle found the back of the net just 3:26 into the opening frame. The Falcons tied the score at 1-1 when Cam Atkinson converted on the power play for his AHL leading 13th power play goal and 28th marker on the season. Atkinson is second in the league in goals and is only two goals shy of being Springfield's first rookie since Daniel Briere in 1997-98 to net 30 markers in a single season.
The Whale took a 2-1 lead just 52-seconds after Atkinson's goal when Mats Zuccarello tallied his 11th marker on the year.
The Falcons were 1-3 on the power play while the Whale was 1-5. Kubalik finished the night with three assists.
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