Falcons Host A Pair Of Games This Weekend
November 7, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
THIS WEEK'S GAME PREVIEWS
--FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2007 - SPRINGFIELD FALCONS VS. LOWELL DEVILS--
The Springfield Falcons and Lowell Devils will meet for the first time this season when they face-off at the MassMutual Center on Friday night. The Devils head into action this week with a record of 5-5-1-0 through 11 games. Lowell lost their last game played this past Sunday when they dropped a 5-4 decision to the Philadelphia Phantoms in overtime. The Devils have lost their last two games and three of their last four overall. Lowell is led in scoring by center Petr Vrana with three goals and six assists for nine points in 11 games. Left wing Stephen Gionta leads Lowell in goals this season with five, and he is also second on the team in points with eight. Goaltender Frank Doyle has appeared in eight of Lowell's 11 games posting a record of 4-4 with a 3.01 goals against average and .912 save percentage. Doyle is fourth in the league in saves with 248.
--SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2007 - SPRINGFIELD FALCONS VS. WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS--
The Springfield Falcons will host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the only time this season on Saturday night at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons and Penguins didn't meet last season and Springfield has several players that saw time with Wilkes-Barre last year when the Edmonton Oilers had their prospects shared with the Penguins. Former Falcon, Jeff Taffe, leads Wilkes-Barre in scoring with seven goals and two assists for nine points in 10 games, including five power play markers. Taffe is tied for second in the league in goals. The Penguins are 5-5 through 10 games and are currently on a two-game winning streak. Goaltender Ty Conklin has appeared in nine of Wilkes-Barre's 10 games and has a record of 5-4-0 with a 2.43 goals against average and .913 save percentage. Conklin is currently third in the league in minutes played with 543.
LAST WEEK'S GAME RECAPS
---SPRINGFIELD Vs. PROVIDENCE, NOVEMBER 2 - L - 4-1---
November 2, 2007 - The Springfield Falcons lost to the Providence Bruins 4-1 Friday night at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons fell behind late in the first period when T.J. Trevelyan gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at the 14:36 mark of the opening frame on the power play. Midway through the first period, Springfield's Tim Sestito and Providence's Wacey Rabbit each collected five-minutes for fighting with an altercation at center-ice.
"Providence has a really good team, they play their system well and play very disciplined hockey," said Falcons head coach Kelly Buchberger. "We will see a lot of them this year and we will learn from tonight's contest."
In the second period, the Falcons tied the score at 1-1 when Troy Bodie scored at 7:10 of the middle frame assisted by Sestito and Ben Simon. The Bruins regained a one-goal lead at 13:57 of the second period when Pascal Pelletier slid a wrist shot by Falcons goaltender Jeff Deslauriers putting Providence on top 2-1 through 40 minutes of play. Late in the middle period, Springfield's T.J. Reynolds and Providence's Dwayne Zinger squared off for the game's second altercation at center-ice.
"We tried to get some momentum, but once Providence had the lead, they wouldn't let up and kept on us," said Buchberger. "You can see why they have had a good start to the season, they work hard and play smart hockey."
In the third period, Providence's Chris Collins tallied a pair of third period markers capping off a 4-1 Bruins win. Springfield ended the night being outshot 35-15 with the Falcons recording five shots in all three periods.
---SPRINGFIELD Vs. MANCHESTER, NOVEMBER 3 - L- 5-3---
November 3, 2007 - The Springfield Falcons lost to the Manchester Monarchs 5-3 on Saturday night at the MassMutual Center dropping their record to 5-5-0-2 on the season.
The Falcons took a 3-2 lead into the third period, but Manchester tied the score at 3-3 when Troy Milam's slap shot from the right point beat Springfield goaltender Devan Dubnyk at 5:59 of the final period on the power play. The Monarchs used another power play marker to take a 4-3 lead when Lauri Tukonen converted at 14:59 of the final frame. Peter Harrold added an empty net tally with less than a minute remaining in regulation after Springfield failed to convert on a late man advantage to cap off the win for Manchester.
"The penalty kill has been good for us this year, but tonight it let us down," said Falcons head coach Kelly Buchberger. "We took some penalties we can't take at important times in the game and you have to be able to play a full 60-minutes and we didn't do that tonight."
After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, the Falcons took a 1-0 lead early in the second period when Tim Sestito scored his first goal of the year. Manchester tied the score at 10:09 of the middle frame when Brady Murray scored his second goal of the year, followed by David Meckler just 41-seconds later giving the Monarchs a 2-1 advantage. Springfield evened the score at 2-2 when Allan Rourke tallied on the power play at 15:47 of the second period, followed by Troy Bodie's go-ahead goal for the Falcons at 19:14 of the middle frame giving the Birds a 3-2 advantage through two periods of play.
Falcons left wing Ryan Flinn was making his Falcons debut Saturday and he received a game misconduct penalty midway through the first period when he dropped the gloves with Manchester's Brian Boyle. Boyle was challenging Springfield's Sestito when Flinn stepped in standing up for his teammate and Flinn and Boyle went toe-to-toe. Just a few minutes later, Springfield's T.J. Reynolds and Manchester's Paul Crosty dropped the gloves and Reynolds for the third consecutive game did very well for himself in the altercation.
PLAYER NOTES:
Falcons left wing Troy Bodie scored his 3rd goal of the season on Friday, November 2, followed by his 4th marker of the year on Saturday, November 3 extending his goal-scoring streak to three straight games. Bodie is now tied for second on the team in goals with four and for the season he has four goals and two assists for six points in 11 games.
Left wing Ryan Flinn made his Falcons debut on Saturday, November 3 against Manchester after missing 11 games due to injury. Marc Pouliot also made his Falcons debut on November 3 after being reassigned to Springfield by Edmonton the same day. Pouliot collected one assist in his Springfield debut on Saturday.
Center Tim Sestito scored his first goal of the year on Saturday, November 3 against Manchester and the Rome, NY native now has points in three straight games.
Defenseman Allan Rourke was the game's second star on Saturday, November 3 against Manchester collecting one goal and one assist. Rourke leads all Springfield blueliners in scoring with three goals and four assists for seven points in 12 games, including two power play goals. Rourke is 4th on the team in points and second on the club in shots on goal with 27.
T.J. Kemp returned to the lineup on November 3 after missing seven games due to injury.
INJURY REPORT
No current injuries.
TRANSACTIONS
October 31, 2007 - Edmonton Oilers recall Robert Nilsson from the Springfield Falcons.
October 31, 2007 - Edmonton Oilers reassign Jean-Francois Jacques to the Springfield Falcons.
November 3, 2007 - Edmonton Oilers reassign Marc Pouliot to the Springfield Falcons.
November 4, 2007 - Edmonton Oilers recall defenseman Bryan Young from the Springfield Falcons.
ON THE FARM - STOCKTON THUNDER
Winners of four consecutive games, the Thunder returns to the road for a three-game series against the Phoenix RoadRunners beginning Tuesday night from U.S. Airways Center. The Thunder swept a two-game, back-to-back series from the Idaho Steelheads in "Thunder Goes Pink II" last weekend, finishing the series with a 3-2 comeback win before a sellout crowd of 9,737 at
Stockton Arena on Saturday. With seven minutes left in regulation, Brandon Schwartz scored his first goal in a Thunder uniform with the game-winner. Jesse Bennefield and Jonas Almtorp also scored for the Thunder while Cam Ellsworth stopped 29 shots in net. The Thunder leads the ECHL in penalty kill efficiency with a .935 rate, killing off 43 of 46 opposing power-play chances this season. A large chunk of that success results from its efficiency on the road, where the Thunder has allowed only two power-play goals in 29 opposing chances. Andy Contois has one shorthanded goal as well - it came against the RoadRunners in a 4-0 win on October 24 at U.S. Airways Center. Jesse Bennefield and Andy Contois have combined for 16 points (7g-9a) in the first seven games this season and tied for the team's lead in scoring with eight points each. Bennefield leads the Thunder with six goals - tied for 3rd in the ECHL while Contois, who spent his rookie season with the Gwinnett Gladiators, is tied for the team's lead with seven assists (Jacob Micflikier).
WEEK IN REVIEW
NOVEMBER 2 Springfield-1 Vs. Providence-4 (Goal scorers - Bodie)
NOVEMBER 3 Springfield-3 Vs. Manchester-5 (Goal scorers - Rourke, Bodie, Sestito)
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
NOVEMBER 9 Springfield Vs. Lowell 7:30 PM MassMutual Center
NOVEMBER 10 Springfield Vs. Wilkes-Barre 7:00 PM MassMutual Center
*Radio Broadcasts on WHYN AM 560
*Watch Live on the B-2 Network
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