Falcons Earn Point In OT Loss

December 27, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


The Springfield Falcons entered Saturday night's home game against the Hartford Wolf Pack looking to continue their success this season against their rivals from down I-91 and break a four-game losing streak in the process.

In the end, the Falcons came up just short and were only able to salvage a point in an overtime 4-3 loss to the Pack in front of 5,406 fans at the MassMutual Center. Artem Anisimov's 13th goal of the season ended what started out as a promising chance for the home team to snap the losing streak.

Springfield didn't look like a team coming off of four consecutive losses in the first period. The Falcons started the game with energy and purpose, physically dominating the play early.

A Falcons power play goal was the first marker of the contest about eight minutes into play. Working along the right boards in the offensive zone on a 5-on-3 advantage, Mathieu Roy and Rob Schremp found Ryan Potulny in space along the goal line. Potulny took advantage of the opportunity, moving to the net and slipping the puck through Matt Zaba's legs for his 16th tally of the season.

Springfield didn't waste any time adding to their lead. Just over five minutes later, Carl Corazzini collected the puck after an errant Theo Peckham drive from the point rebounded off the end boards and hammered it home for a 2-0 lead and his third goal of the season.

The Wolf Pack refused to go down without a fight and came out strong in the second period. Despite heavily outshooting the Falcons, however, Hartford could only cut the lead to 2-1 in the period on a 2-on-1 tally by Pierre Parenteau, who took a saucer pass from center Anisimov and drove the one-timer home over Devan Dubnyk's outstretched glove.

The goal was Parenteau's 13th of the season.

Springfield's fortunes didn't seem to improve much for most of the third period, either. Hartford's David Urquhart evened the game at a score of 2-2 on a scramble in front of the Falcons' net early in the frame after Dubnyk couldn't find the rebound off a sharp shot from the slot.

The Wolf Pack took a 3-2 lead a few minutes later on a 5-on-3 power play goal by Brodie Dupont, who was left alone in the slot in front of Dubnyk and slipped a low wrist shot by the Falcons netminder.

Springfield responded quickly, however, and evened the score. The Falcons worked the puck down low behind Hartford's net and Ryan O'Marra snuck into empty space to the right of the net, taking a perfect feed from Guillaume Lefebvre and putting a quick wrist shot past Zaba for his first goal of the season to tie the game and salvage a point for the Falcons.



American Hockey League Stories from December 27, 2008


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