Falcons Earn Point Against Devils

Published on October 23, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


Springfield was unable to hold on to a 2-1 lead in the third, earning only one point after a shootout loss Friday night to the Lowell Devils, 4-3. It was the first time this season that the Falcons were not able to get the win at home. The Falcons fell to 3-4-0-1 this season as they head to Worcester to take on the Sharks tomorrow night at 7pm.

"We had a 2-1 lead going into the third," said Falcons forward Chris Minard, "There's no way we can allow to lose that game. Good teams find ways to win and we had it. We didn't play well in the second period and they took the momentum and the game changed from there."

During the shootout the Falcons converted on 2 of 7 shots while the Devils went 3 for 7 to earn the win. Springfield sent out Ryan Potulny, Chris Minard, Charles Linglet, Chad Wiseman, Colton Fretter, Liam Reddox, and Slava Trukhno. Minard and Linglet converted in the shootout. Scoring for the Devils in the shootout were Ben Walter, Tyler Eckford, and Alexander Vasyunov against Devan Dubnyk. It was a game filled with momentum swings and unfortunately for the Falcons, Lowell ended the game with the momentum.

"I think we were hanging on in the second period," said Falcons Head Coach Rob Daum about Lowell taking control of the game, "Even though the score was 2-0 for us, I thought in the second we weren't as good as we were in the first. They took control after that at least until the end of the period."

Lowell was able to make a comeback in the third period turning a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead in less than a minute. Lowell's Tyler Eckford was able to connect for a score at the 2:51 mark on a power play to tie the game up at 2 goals apiece. This was the first power play goal given up by the Falcons this season at home. Immediately following Eckford's goal was Alexander Vasyunov only 39 seconds after to give Lowell a 3-2 lead.

Later in the third, Springfield took advantage with a Minard power play goal with less than seven minutes left in the third. This was Minard's team leading fourth goal of the season. Wiseman and Linglet assisted on the goal. Wiseman's assist was his fourth point in four games as a member of the Falcons. Linglet now has recorded at least one point in all but one of the games this season for the Falcons.

The game remained tied until the end of regulation sending the Falcons into their first overtime game this season. Despite tying the game up, the momentum seemed to stay with the Devils.

"I think from that point on it was an even game," said Coach Daum on the Falcons game-tying goal in the third, "Either team could have won or could have lossed in those circumstances. So I don't think we gained any momentum from it. We didn't control the last six minutes of the game down the stretch."

In the five minute overtime, neither team was able to score sending the game into a shootout. The Devils came close to winning the game at the very end of the overtime with the puck finding the back of net, but unfortunately for Lowell it was one second too late.

The Falcons got the better of the Devils in the first period as Springfield led 2-0. The Falcons first goal came at the 5:50 mark on a power play by Fretter. Assisting on the goal were Trukhno and Minard. Later in the period Lowell was on a power play when Devils goalie Mike McKenna left the net open as he passed it to Falcons Colin McDonald for the shorthanded goal at the 9:40 mark. This year the Falcons struggled to get more shots on goal than their opponent, but at the first intermission were outshooting Lowell 14-7.

Despite the goals scored in the first period, the real story was the physical play by both teams. The first fight was between the Falcons Jake Taylor and Lowell's Louis Robitaille early in the period. Taylor was responding to the Devils Matt Taormina's knee to the gut of Springfield's Ryan MacMurchy.

This set the tone for the rest of the period as two more fights broke out in the first, both of which included Falcons 6'4 Left Wing Kip Brennan. The second fight was a center ice showdown for the fans as Brennan and Devils Kevin Cormier dropped gloves while getting into fighting position. Brennan got more shots in during the fight as he forced Cormier down to the ice. These were just a few of the altercations between the two teams in the first 20 minutes.

"It's good," said Minard on the rough play in the first period, "Two divisional teams and it's going to happen like that. We tried to come out and be a little more physical than what we have been and we showed that. We just have to do that for 60 minutes not 20."

Following the exciting first period action was a much calmer second. The lone goal came at the 9:33 mark when the Devils Stephen Gionta hit a slapshot past Devan Dubnyk to cut the Falcons lead in half. Lowell outshot the Falcons in the period 13-5, but were unable to convert on either of their two power play opportunities.

One positive note that came out of the game for the Falcons was the team's special team play, going 2 for 3 on the power play and 4 for 5 on the penalty kill.

"It is encouraging," said Coach Daum on the team's special team play, "I thought our power play was really effective in the five minute major even though we only got the one goal. We had a lot of puck possession, lots of good looks, and of course the shorthanded goal is always a positive."

Game Notes Falcons Defenseman Theo Peckham was called up to Edmonton today joining the Oilers roster...The official attendance for tonight's game was 2,596 ...Lowell's Tim Sestito was Captain of last year's Springfield Falcons team making tonight his first game back in Springfield since leaving...Lowell's Dean McAmmond played his first game in the AHL since 2004-05 season with the Albany River Rats as he made his debut as a member of the Devils. McAmmond has played in 934 NHL games.

Three Stars of the Game 1st Star- Lowell's Alexander Vasyunov 2nd Star- Springfield's Chris Minard 3rd Star- Lowell's Tyler Eckford

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American Hockey League Stories from October 23, 2009


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