Falcons Beat Sound Tigers 4-1 - in a Tie for First Place

November 19, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


The Springfield Falcons completed a perfect weekend on Saturday night beating the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4-1 at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT. The Falcons used a pair of goals from Ryan Russell and a 23-save effort from goaltender Manny Legace on their way to their sixth win in their last eight contests, including three straight victories this week. Springfield is currently in a first place tie with the Albany Devils in the Northeast Division.

For the second straight night, the Falcons came out of the gates and had a quick start in the first period. Just 3:33 into the opening frame, Russell scored his seventh goal of the year just as Springfield's power play expired giving the Falcons a 1-0 lead. Russell added his second goal of the period at 17:29 of the first frame giving the birds a 2-0 advantage through 20 minutes of play.

"Ryan is a very good player for us," said Falcons head coach Rob Riley. "He can do so many things, he can score, he can block shots, I think now he is leading our team in goals, so he has been very solid for us. We put him in every situation, even strength, power play and penalty kill."

Early in the first period, the game had a physical element with Springfield's Theo Ruth and Bridgeport's Brett Gallant dropping the gloves. Later on in the opening session, captain Dane Byers demonstrated a perfectly legal hit on Bridgeport's Benn Olson, who in return dropped his gloves and went after a surprised Byers. The Falcons ended up with a four-minute power play as a result of their disciplined play.

In the second period, Bridgeport cut their deficit to 2-1 when Tim Wallace scored his fifth goal of the year at 4:17 of the middle frame. The game's second fight occurred midway through the second period as Springfield's Tim Spencer dropped the gloves with Gallant.

The two teams exchanged scoring chances for the first 10 minutes of the third period with Legace coming up big for the Falcons, while Bridgeport's Kevin Poulin also made several nice saves to keep it a one goal contest.

Finally at 13:21 of the third period, Cam Atkinson added his eighth marker on the campaign as he took a nice pass from Martin St. Pierre to give the Falcons a cushion at 3-1. Alexandre Giroux added an empty net goal in the game's closing seconds to complete a 4-1 Springfield win.



American Hockey League Stories from November 19, 2011


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