Falcons Fly Past RoadRunners 7-3

December 31, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


Phoenix, Ariz. - The Fresno Falcons tallied a season-high five power play goals en route to a 7-3 victory over the Phoenix RoadRunners before 4,281 at America West Arena in ECHL action Saturday.

For a second consecutive night, the RoadRunners (9-17-2) surrendered three first period goals. Shawn Weiman opened the scoring for Fresno (15-4-8) just 2:47 into the contest when his shot along the ice from the point beat a screened RoadRunners goaltender Mike Mole to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead. Fraser Clair extended the lead with a power play goal at 13:14. Shawn Mather collected Luke Curtin's rebound in front and slid the puck to a wide-open Clair at the snide of the net who tapped it by Mole to make it 2-0. John Wroblewski capped the scoring at 16:52 when fired a backhand shot past Mole off Rob McFeeters' rebound to make it 3-0 heading into the first intermission.

The Falcons would pad their lead with a pair of power play goals in the second period. On a two-man advantage power play, Cory Murphy ripped a one-timer from the slot by Mole at 12:07 to give Fresno a 4-0 advantage. Shawn Mather made it 5-0 on the same power play when his shot from the high slot kicked off defenseman Shaun Fisher's skate and into the net at 13:11.

The RoadRunners would fight back with a pair of goals 2:58 seconds apart to open the third period. Jason Deskins broke up Brett Jaeger's shutout when he beat the Falcons goaltender with a wrist shot from the left-wing circle at 4:43. Garrett Burnett made it a 5-2 game at 7:41 when his wrister from the slot popped off Jaeger's glove and trickled into the net. However, the Falcons would add two more power play goals to put the game out of reach. Murphy netted his second of the game at 10:49 on the man-advantage, and Rob McFeeters deflected Matt O'Dette's point shot by Mathieu Chouinard in relief of Mole at 16:07. The RoadRunners would tack on a final goal at 18:04 from Mark Wires. Captain Dean Tiltgen picked up an assist on the goal giving him 400 points for his professional career.

Notes: The RoadRunners welcomed back forwards Ben Knopp and Miguel Lafleche who were both activated off the injured reserve prior to the game. Knopp saw his first game action since October 29 while Lafleche played in his first game since December 4...Phoenix was outscored 50-27 for the month of December...Happy New Year!

The RoadRunners and Fresno Falcons play the back-end of this two-game series at 5PM Sunday at America West Arena. For more information or to order tickets, call (602) 462-GOAL or purchase online at www.ticketmaster.com.



ECHL Stories from December 31, 2005


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