Falcons Back At Home Tonight

November 29, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


The Springfield Falcons and Providence Bruins meet for the fourth time this season when they battle on Saturday night at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons and Bruins last meeting occurred just one week ago tonight when Springfield beat Providence 5-1 at The Nest. The Falcons used five different goal scorers in the win including: Rob Schremp, Bryan Lerg, Ryan Potulny, Gilbert Brule and Derek Bekar. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk earned the win in goal stopping 21 of 22 shots on goal, while Martin St. Pierre had Providence's lone goal. The Falcons are 1-1-1-0 in the season series with the Bruins with the home team winning all three games.

Viacheslav Trukhno leads the Falcons in scoring against the Bruins this season with five assists in three games. Ryan Potulny, Theo Peckham, Derek Bekar, and Gilbert Brule all lead Springfield in goals against Providence this year with two apiece.

Johnny Boychuk leads the Bruins in scoring against the Falcons this campaign with six assists in three games. Martin St. Pierre has a team-leading three goals against Springfield this season and is second behind Boychuk in points with five.

The Falcons head into Saturday's action looking to snap a three-game losing streak and also a season high three-game pointless streak. Springfield returns home after concluding a three-game road trip in Philadelphia last night losing to the Phantoms, 4-1, at the Wachovia Center. Derek Bekar scored the Falcons' lone goal on Friday evening in Philly. Springfield dropped a hard-fought decision on Wednesday night in Norfolk by a score of 6-4, preceded by a 4-1 loss at Lowell last Sunday. The Falcons currently have a record of 9-7-2-1 and sit in a third-place tie with the Manchester Monarchs in the Atlantic Division. Both the Falcons and Monarchs are four points behind Providence entering tonight's game.

The Bruins head back to Springfield having defeated the Worcester Sharks Friday night by a score of 5-3 on home ice. Providence opened the game with a 2-0 first period lead before surrendering three second period markers to trail 3-2 through 40 minutes of play. The Bruins answered back with three third period goals on their way to victory. Jeff Penner, Martins Karsums, Jeremy Reich, Matt Lashoff and Martin St. Pierre all scored for the Bruins, while goaltender Tuukka Rask stopped 35 of 38 shots on goal.

RECALLED FROM STOCKTON: The Falcons announced after Friday's game that they have recalled defenseman Cleve Kinley from their ECHL affiliate, the Stockton Thunder. Kinley participated in the Falcons' 2008 training camp and the 6-foot, 190-pound native of Surrey, British Columbia played in one preseason game for Springfield. In 17 games with the Thunder this season, Kinley has one goal and eight assists for nine points and 39 penalty minutes.

Kinley split time during the 2007-08 campaign with the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins and ECHL's Texas Wildcatters. He ranked second on the Wildcatters in scoring among defensemen collecting six goals and 28 assists for 34 points in 60 regular season games. He led Texas in scoring during the playoffs last season totaling five goals and eight assists for 13 points in nine post-season contests. Kinley has played in 11 career AHL games, all with Grand Rapids, picking up two assists and four penalty minutes. He played his college hockey with UMass-Lowell from 2003-2007.

STEADY VETERAN: Derek Bekar scored his sixth goal of the season last night in Philly moving him into third on the club in goals this year. Bekar played in his 600th pro game and scored his fourth goal of the year on November 21 against Norfolk.

BRUINS PLAYER NOTES:

Jeff Penner has recorded at least a point in two of his last three games collecting two goals and one assist in that span.

Vladimir Sobotka has picked up at least a point in two of his last three games collecting two goals and two assists in that span. Sobotka has eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in 13 games with Providence this year.

Peter Schaefer has points in two of his last three games played as well picking up one goal and two assists.

Martins Karsums has recorded a point in seven of his last eight games collecting four goals and six assists for 10 points in that span.



American Hockey League Stories from November 29, 2008


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