Falcons Cruise to Victory

Published on January 7, 2006 under ECHL (ECHL)
Fresno Falcons News Release


VICTORIA, British Columbia - Fraser Clair and Shawn Mather each scored twice to help lead the Fresno Falcons to a 6-2 victory over the Victoria Salmon Kings at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in front of 4,633.

The Falcons exploded out of the gates, building a 3-0 lead before the game was even 12 minutes old. John Wroblewski struck on the power play off a rebound at 4:52, Clair chipped home a rebound even strength at 7:35, and Mather worked a give-and-go off the draw in the offensive zone with Luke Curtin to score shorthanded at 11:56. Victoria responded while still on the power play after giving up the shortie when Ryan Wade capitalized on a shot off the post at 12:50. But Fresno answered right back just 13 seconds later with Derek Krestanovich scoring off yet another rebound to give the Falcons a 4-1 lead heading to the second.

The second period featured several power plays for both clubs, but the only goal was scored shorthanded by the Salmon Kings. Adam Taylor pounced on a clearing effort that rolled into the Fresno zone and proceeded to slip the puck five-hole past Falcons netminder Jamie Holden at 14:56 to bring Victoria within 4-2 after 40 minutes.

Fresno snuffed out any chance of a possible Salmon Kings rally when Clair scored his second of the night just 2:14 into the third off a wrist shot from the top of the left circle. Mather then tallied his second of the evening, as well, at 9:07 to erase any final doubt regarding the outcome.

Tonight's game concluded a six-game road trip and a stretch of 12 of 13 away from home during which the Falcons captured 20 of a possible 26 points in the standings. The team is 18-5-8 with 44 points and still in first place in the Pacific Division with the largest lead of any of the league's four division leaders.

Fresno now finally returns home to Save Mart Center on Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m. to take on the Florida Everblades. The game is a Carl's Jr. Two-for-Tuesday, with two-for-one coupons available at participating Carl's Jr. restaurants. Individual tickets are on sale now at all Ticketmaster outlets and Save Mart Center's box office with prices ranging from $8 - $22. For complete ticket information and an arena map of Save Mart Center, visit www.fresnofalcons.com/singletickets.html, or contact the Falcons front office directly at (559) 485-PUCK (7825).

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from January 7, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central