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Falcons Drop Back-And-Forth Battle to Bruins

April 19, 2013 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


Providence, R.I. - The Northeast Division-champion Springfield Falcons (44-22-5-4) scored three-straight goals to fight back from an early deficit, but ultimately fell short of the Providence Bruins (48-21-0-5) on Friday night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center, 5-3.

The Falcons entered Friday's action two points shy of the Bruins for the Eastern Conference's top spot. Providence, though, was able to withstand Springfield's rally and clinch the conference's regular-season championship.

Springfield maintained its hold on second place in the conference standings, but saw its lead for that spot over Syracuse narrow to two points with two days left in the regular season. The Falcons have one game remaining in their schedule, taking on Adirondack on Saturday.

The Bruins garnered the early momentum by scoring a pair of goals in the first to take a 2-0 lead.

Moments after Providence's first power play of the contest ended, Craig Cunningham pushed in a rebound off a Zach Trotman shot by Falcons netminder Curtis McElhinney at 2:51.

With the Bruins back on the power play, Carter Camper corralled a puck in the left circle and quickly snapped a shot by McElhinney's stick and just inside the post at 11:30.

Faced with a two-goal deficit, Springfield responded immediately, striking twice in a 29-second span to tie the contest, 2-2.

On the ensuing face-off after Camper's goal, Matthew Ford skated to the slot and redirected a Will Weber blue-line shot past Bruins goaltender Niklas Svedberg at 11:44.

Jonathan Audy-Marchessault received a pass from Ford, skated toward Svedberg in the right circle, and wristed a puck over his glove at 12:13 for the equalizer.

The Falcons seized their first advantage of the evening with a power-play conversion in the second. Blake Parlett skated a puck in from the blue line and unloaded a shot from the top of the right circle, beating Svedberg stick side and putting Springfield up at 4:03, 3-2.

McElhinney fought off three Providence breakaway bids later in the period before the Bruins finally solved him. After Kyle MacKinnon hit the left post on a shorthanded attempt, McElhinney made saves on in-tight chances by Christian Hanson and Jamie Tardif. Trent Whitfield spun Providence's luck when he captured an entry feed from Colby Cohen, split Springfield's defensemen, and fired a shot over McElhinney's glove at 13:29, knotting the game up, 3-3.

Whitfield had another opportunity right off the opening draw of the third, but McElhinney kicked the open chance aside six seconds in, preserving the deadlock.

Providence claimed the edge for good at 7:14. Chris Bourque, playing in his first game since undergoing an injury in Springfield on Mar. 16, blasted a puck into the net through traffic from the right point, as the Bruins, on the strength of the power-play tally, moved in front, 4-3.

Jordan Caron, assigned from Boston earlier in the week, stickhandled through the left circle and backhanded a puck in from the slot at 12:52, opening up Providence's cushion to 5-3.

Svedberg (37-8-2) made 37 saves for his 37th victory, tying John Grahame for the Bruins single-season record. McElhinney (29-16-3) allowed five goals on Providence's 29 opportunities.

Springfield finishes the regular season on the road against Adirondack on Saturday.

The Falcons host the first two contests of the best-of-five Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at the MassMutual Center. Game 1 will be played on Saturday, Apr. 27 at 7 p.m., with Game 2 following on Sunday, Apr. 28 at 4 p.m. Springfield would also host Game 5, if necessary.

The remainder of Springfield's first-round schedule will be announced on FalconsAHL.com once the club's opponent is determined. The AHL's regular season ends this Sunday. The Falcons, as division winners, will have one of the Eastern Conference's top three seeds.

Single-game tickets to watch the Falcons compete in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals are on sale now at the MassMutual Center Box Office, or online at Ticketmaster.com. For information on cost-saving postseason ticket packages, call (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or click here.

Notes:

Audy-Marchessault had a goal and an assist and leads the Falcons with 67 points (21g-46a)...Springfield can tie its franchise record of 45 wins with a victory on Saturday night against Adirondack...The Falcons' four-game road winning streak ended. Springfield was trying to equal the franchise mark for the longest away winning streak of five games, set from Nov. 19 to Dec. 7, 2005...Nick Holden was -2 on the game. He leads the team with a +23 rating, tied for the highest by a Falcon in one season with Danny Briere and John Stevens...Springfield allowed five goals for the first time since falling to Providence on Mar. 16, 5-2...The Bruins won the season series with the Falcons with a 6-3-1-0 record

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