Falcons Defeat Wolf Pack in Hartford, 3-1, to End Season
April 17, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
Hartford, Conn. â Playing for pride, the Falcons showed a lot of it on Sunday while notching a 3-1 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack before 8,222 at the Hartford Civic Center in the club's final game of the 2004-05 season. Goaltender Brian Eklund stopped 44 of 45 shots to earn his 14th win of the season. Forwards Derek Bekar, Nikita Alexeev and Shane Willis provided the scoring in the Falcons' victory.
The Falcons skated without right wing Andre Deveaux due to accumulation of game misconducts after he was among those ejected from Saturday's tilt with the Wolf Pack in Springfield. Rookie forward Darren Reid also joined the Falcons' lengthy list of injured players to miss the game after being hurt in Saturday's game.
The Falcons scored the only goal of the first period at the 15:45 mark when Bekar knocked the rebound of a shot by Willis into the net for his eighth tally of the season. Defenseman Andreas Holmqvist collected the second assist on the goal as he fed Willis the puck at the point from behind the net. It marked the eighth consecutive time in which the Falcons scored the first goal of the game.
Hartford's best scoring chance of the opening frame came on a breakaway by the team's leading-scorer Alexandre Giroux, who hit the post with his shot.
The Falcons outshot the Wolf Pack, 12-7, during the first twenty minutes.
Alexeev nearly added to the Falcons' lead early in the second period after receiving a pretty centering pass from below the goal ling from 21-year-old forward Alexei Glukhov, who was playing in his third game for the Falcons after joining the club on Thursday. Alexeev's shot from the low slot as well as his follow-up on his own rebound were stopped by Valiquette.
The Falcons maintained the edge in the game by successfully killing off both ends of double-minor penalties issued to Jean-Francois Soucy midway through the frame.
Hartford knotted the contest 4:31 into the third period when center Dominic Moore steered the puck into the net from the edge of the crease to finish a two-on-one rush with Giroux. Moore had collected the puck after Glukhov turned it over on a Falcons' rush.
However, Glukhov bounced back on his next shift to help set up the eventual game-winning goal 2:01 later. Glukhov fed the puck to Jaspers in the right face-off circle, who snapped a hard shot that was stopped but not controlled by Valiquette. Alexeev swept in the rebound from the side of the crease for his 13th goal of the season.
With the Hartford net empty for an extra skater, Willis capped scoring with 31 seconds left to play by whirling from the left wing face-off circle in the Springfield zone to shoot the puck into the goal from 180 feet away.
The Falcons' win helped spoil Hartford's chance at an Atlantic Division title. The Wolf Pack also needed the first-place Manchester Monarchs to lose in regulation to the Worcester IceCats. Manchester gained a 2-1 win in Worcester in a game that went final shortly after the game in Hartford.
Eklund stopped 44 of 45 shots in the win to earn first-star honors. Valiquette made 32 saves for the Wolf Pack.
The game was in marked contrast to Saturday's game between the clubs at the Springfield Civic Center in which the teams combined for 226 penalty minutes. The Falcons were whistled for just three minor penalties while the Wolf Pack was issued one on Sunday. Neither team connected for a power-play goal.
The Falcons finished the season collecting points in nine of their last 12 games, posting a 5-3-4-0 record over that span.
For a complete box score of Sunday's win, please click on the following link: http://www.theahl.com/AHLBoxscores0405/140340.html
Three Stars of the Game:
1. Brian Eklund â Springfield
2. Nikita Alexeev â Springfield
3. Dominic Moore - Hartford
American Hockey League Stories from April 17, 2005
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