Falcons Beat Sound Tigers - Move Into Third Place In Division

Published on November 6, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


Springfield never allowed the momentum to shift to Bridgeport as they defeated their Atlantic Division rivals, 5-2. As the game wore on, the Falcons confidence level seemed to increase with every play, pass, goal, and hit they made. Springfield was finding ways to get to the puck before the Sound Tigers. The Falcons were out hustling and playing more aggressively on the offensive end to earn the two points, bringing their record to 6-5-2-1, with 15 points on the season.

"I thought we moved the puck pretty well," said Falcons Head Coach Rob Daum, "We were making good offensive decisions, and we were getting pucks past their forwards coming out to the point. And in turn we were getting to loose pucks and getting some of those on the net. I think we did have some confidence in that regard and we had some jump tonight. We won some races to loose pucks."

Springfield was able to score first in the game on their first power play opportunity with a goal by Liam Reddox. The goal was set up by Defensemen Alex Plante and Theo Peckham. This was Plante's first career point. Later in the period, Bridgeport answered with a Matt Martin power play goal coming with less than two minutes left in the period. However, the 1-1 tie was short-lived as the Falcons quickly answered back with a Chad Wiseman goal only 15 seconds later.

"It was my penalty [that gave them their first goal]," said Wiseman, "I felt obligated to do something. I was just going to the net and right place at the right time. It was a nice shot by Fretter, he had a bad angle, but put it on the ice and onto the pads where you could redirect the shot and it just came right on the slot right on my stick."

Wiseman's goal was a turning point in the game for the Falcons as they never allowed the Sound Tigers to get into any sustained rhythm.

"I thought that was a key goal for us," said Coach Daum, "I thought we had a solid first period and I thought we deserved the lead. So the fact that he was able to score to give us the lead at that point was important...That was just a good motivator for us heading into the dressing room to have the lead based on the period we played."

Among the first period highlights was a fight between Bridgeport's Pascal Morency and Falcons Defenseman, and new Dad, Jake Taylor. At the end of the first period, the Sound Tigers outshot Springfield 14-10.

The Falcons came out firing in the second stanza as they built a 5-1 lead within the period's first seven minutes. Springfield started out the period on a power play and took advantage of the extra man with a Colton Fretter top shelf goal. That was followed by Wiseman's second goal of the game at the 5:35 mark in the period, making it a 4-1 game.

"There's a lot at stake when we're sitting at .500 now," said Wiseman on what this win meant to the team, "And we're a better team than that and I think everyone wants to prove it. Once we scored a few goals, we got on a roll and anytime you score goals, you are going to play with confidence."

Less than a minute later, the Falcons struck again as Colin McDonald found the back of the net to make it 5-1.

Bridgeport had a chance to cut into the lead after two Ryan O'Marra boarding penalties allowing a 4 minute to the Sound Tigers. Fortunately for the Falcons their penalty kill team and goalie Devan Dubnyk were able to stop the Bridgeport power play attack. The Sound Tigers had another power play opportunity later in the second, but once again the Falcons penalty kill was able to hold up. However, at the 18:17 mark in the second period, Bridgeport's Bret Wesgarth scored his first goal of the season, making it a 5-2 game heading into the final period.

Dropping gloves in the second period for the Falcons was the rookie Alex Plante. Plante got into it with both Matt Martin and Justin DiBenedetto of Bridgeport. The rookie defenseman showed that he was not afraid to get tangled up with anyone.

The final period was a quiet 20 minutes to end the game. No goals were scored in the period as the game ended with a final score of 5-2 in favor of Springfield. Springfield's special teams came up big again in the win, going 2 for 6 on the power play, while stopping all but one of Bridgeport's five power play chances.

"We were satisfied with our game tonight for the most part," said Coach Daum on his team's special teams play, "I think all aspects of it were okay and it showed in the score. We had a good spurt in the second period and I think we got a couple of fortunate goals. We threw the puck at the net and when you do that there's a good chance good things are going to happen."

The Falcons were outshot in the game 36-26. This marks the seventh loss in seven games in which Bridgeport outshot their opponents, yet still loss the game. The five goals scored by the Falcons matched their season high and most since the season opener in the October 3rd 5-2 win over Portland. Leading the Falcons to victory was Chad Wiseman with two goals and Colton Fretter with one goal and one assist. Defenseman Theo Peckham and Chris Armstrong added two assists for the Falcons. Goalie Devan Dubnyk played well in net stopping 34 of the 36 shots.

The key to the victory tonight for the Falcons was the fact that Springfield never allowed Bridgeport to gain any momentum throughout the entire game.

"Momentums a funny thing," said Springfield's Armstrong, "Whether it's going for you or against you, once it gets going it's a tough thing to stop. And tonight we were able to get the ball rolling a little bit and got some good momentum shift after shift, and we just kept building on it...Hopefully we can it on into Sunday."

The Falcons will look to make it two wins in a row as they travel to Portland, ME on Sunday to take on the Pirates at 4pm.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 6, 2009


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