Falcons Fodder
November 2, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
SETUP: The Springfield Falcons and Providence Bruins will meet for the 3rd time this season tonight at "The Nest." These two Eastern Conference rivals have split the first two games of the season series with each team winning on their home ice by a score of 2-1. Bruins forward Matt Herr had the game-winning goal for Providence in the Bruins win against Springfield on October 18th. Dmitry Afanasenkov's penalty shot goal was the game-winner for the Falcons in their win against the Bruins on October 20th. The Falcons and Bruins will complete a home and home series this weekend when Springfield heads to Providence for a Sunday afternoon game at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. Springfield left winger, Ramzi Abid leads the team in scoring against Providence this season with two goals in two games played. Second-year pro, Andy Hilbert leads the Bruins in scoring against the Falcons this season with one goal and one assist in two games played. Springfield goaltender Patrick DesRochers and Providence netminder Andrew Raycroft have each started in goal for both games against each other this season. DesRochers is currently on recall to the Phoenix Coyotes.
The Falcons head into tonight's game having defeated the Albany River Rats, 2-1 last night at the Pepsi Arena. Springfield fell behind in the opening period, 1-0, but rallied with one goal in the second period and one in the third to win the game. Albany outshot Springfield 18-7 in the first period, but the Falcons went on to outshoot the Rats 21-10 through the final two periods. Afanasenkov had the game-winner 12-minutes into the third period lifting Springfield to their second win in their last three games played. Shane Willis collected his 1st of the season early in the second period last night and Evgeny Konstantinov made 27 saves earning the game's second star. The Falcons return home tonight after playing their last five games on the road. Starting tonight, Springfield will play four of their next five games at home. The Falcons remain in fifth place in the East Division, three points behind Binghamton, Albany, and Hartford.
Providence comes into Springfield undefeated in their last four games (3-0-1-0) and in first-place in the North Division. The Bruins are 6-2-2-0 on the young season and have a one-point lead over second-place Manchester. Providence defeated the St. John's Maple Leafs, 7-3 last night. Lee Goren, who was the game's first star with two goals and one assist, led the Bruins. Matt Herr was the game's second star with one goal and two assists and Jay Henderson chipped in with one goal and one assist. Providence had 11 of their 17 skaters register at least a point in last night's win. Andrew Raycroft made 25 saves in goal collecting his fifth win of the season, which is tied for the AHL lead in that category.
FOCHT BACK: The Phoenix Coyotes reassigned defenseman Dan Focht to the Falcons after the Coyotes game in Philadelphia on Thursday night. Focht started the season with the Coyotes playing in seven games and not registering a point. Focht collected one assist in his 2002-03 Falcons debut last night. He is currently 3rd on the Falcons all-time games played list with 262.
GAME-WINNER: Falcons left winger, Dmitry Afanasenkov enters tonight's game the team leader in game-winning goals with two. Afanasenkov netted the game-winner on October 20th against Providence and also scored the game-winner last night in Albany. He has two goals in nine games played this season and he is 3rd on the team in shooting percentage at 14.3%.
PENALTY-KILL: Tonight's game will feature two of the better teams on the penalty-kill this season. The Falcons enter tonight's game ranked 9th in the league on the penalty kill allowing 10 power play goals against in 70 shorthanded situations good for a success rate of 85.71%. Providence is ranked 2nd in the league on the penalty kill with a success rate of 89.47%. The Bruins also lead the AHL in shorthanded goals with five. Andy Hilbert leads the Bruins with two shorthanded goals this season.
ON FIRE: Providence right winger, Lee Goren has six goals and five assists for 11 points in his last five games played and is a +4 rating. Goren is currently second on the team in scoring with seven goals and five assists for 12 points in 10 games played. He is also tied with teammate Matt Herr for the AHL lead in goals.
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