Falcons Drop Game In Manchester, 6-3

Published on March 12, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


Manchester, NH – The Springfield Falcons suffered a 6-3 loss to the Manchester Monarchs before a crowd of 9,210 at Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday afternoon. Right wing Jim Campbell, defenseman Doug O'Brien, and center Jason Jaspers provided scoring for the Falcons. Forwards Mike Cammalleri and David Steckel each scored twice for Manchester.

Manchester tallied the only goal of the first period with 1:52 remaining in the frame. Following an injury to Falcons left wing Adam Henrich, the Monarchs took advantage by setting up Cammalleri, the AHL's leading goal-scorer, for his 38th goal of the season before the Springfield rookie could skate to the bench. Veteran forward Tom Kostopoulos fed Cammalleri for a one-timer from between the face-off circles with a pass out of the left wing corner. Henrich returned to action later in the game.

Monarchs forward Dustin Brown made the score 2-0 by knocking in his own rebound after carrying the puck wide to the left wing before skating in on Falcons goaltender Brian Eklund. The goal, which came 5:12 into the second period, was the 25th of the season for Brown - a first-round pick by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2003 Draft.

The Monarchs added to their lead 1:47 later on Steckel's fifth marker of the season. Right wing Dan Welch shoveled a pass to Steckel who snapped a wrist shot from the inner edge of right circle for the goal.

The Falcons got on the board at the 10:57 mark when Campbell scored his first goal with the club. On the power play, Campbell batted the rebound of a shot from the right face-off by Nikita Alexeev out of midair and into the back of the net. It was the ninth goal overall of the season for Campbell, who played 46 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers before being assigned to Springfield on Feb. 25.

Three minutes later, Cammalleri blasted a feed from below the goal line by linemate Brad Smyth for his second goal of the game and 39th of the campaign.

Manchester center Jeff Miles sent a wrist shot through traffic from the left wing to make the score 5-1 on his third goal of the season 2:20 into the final frame.

O'Brien scored his third goal of the season 34 seconds later when Manchester netminder Mathieu Garon misplayed his dump in. On the play, O'Brien fired the puck off the endboards from near the center red line. The puck caromed off the boards before bouncing off the back of Garon and in the net.

Steckel recorded his second goal of the afternoon by redirecting a wrist shot from the right point by Denis Grebeshkov during a Monarchs' power play with 4:28 remaining. Grebeshkov recorded his third assist of the game on the tally.

Jaspers completed scoring in the contest by tucking the puck under Garon to finish a partial breakaway after receiving a cross ice pass from right wing Evgeni Artukhin. The goal, which came 3:09 left to play, was Jaspers' fifth of the season.

A penalty shot was awarded to Manchester left wing Ryan Kinasewich in the closing minute, but the forward lost control of the puck while approaching Eklund and did not get a shot off.

The Falcons were outshot, 33-21, in the game.

Springfield finished the game one-for-four with the man advantage while Manchester converted two of seven power plays.

Eklund made 27 saves. Garon stopped 18 shots in the Manchester net.

The game marked the fifth consecutive loss for the Falcons and their 11th straight on the road.

Following Sunday's road game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Falcons will host the Hershey Bears on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. in their next game at the Springfield Civic Center. To purchase tickets, visit the Springfield Civic Center box office, call (413) 787-6600 or (800) 639-8602 to order by phone, or log onto www.falconsahl.com to order tickets online.

For a complete box score of Saturday's game please click on the following link:http://www.theahl.com/AHLBoxscores0405/140106.html

Three Stars of the Game:

1. Mike Cammalleri – Manchester

2. David Steckel – Manchester

3. Denis Grebeshkov - Manchester

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American Hockey League Stories from March 12, 2005


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