Falcons Defeat Crunch, 3-1, in Season Opener
Published on October 11, 2014 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
Springfield, Mass. - The Springfield Falcons defeated the Syracuse Crunch, 3-1, tonight in the 2014-15 season opener at the War Memorial Arena in Syracuse.
Falcons goaltender Anton Forsberg turned away 21 of 22 shots in victory, while his Crunch counterpart Kristers Gudlevskis stopped 20 of 22. The Falcons were able to convert on one of seven power play opportunities, while shutting down all five Crunch man-advantages.
The Falcons opened scoring and carried the 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Mike Hoeffel found the back of the net with 2:50 remaining in the first period. Gudlevskis stopped Denny Urban's slap shot from the right point, but Hoeffel was able to score on the rebound from the left crease.
After scoring one tally each, the Falcons finished the second period leading, 2-1. Urban picked up his second point of the game with a power-play goal 2:19 into the middle frame. Sean Collins passed down to Dana Tyrell behind the net, who brought the puck to the bottom of the right circle. Urban one-timed the cross-crease feed from Tyrell to extend the Falcons' lead. The Crunch responded 1:29 later. Mike Blunden redirected Luke Witkowski's shot from the high slot to get on the board. Nikita Nesterov earned the secondary assist.
Captain Ryan Craig contributed an empty net short-handed goal with one second remaining in the third period to bring the final score to 3-1. Lukas Sedlak was credited with the assist.
The Springfield Falcons will face the Syracuse Crunch again on Oct. 17 before returning to the MassMutual Center for the 2014-15 home opener against the Hershey Bears on Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.
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