Falcons Host Bruins Monday

Published on December 31, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


The Springfield Falcons and Providence Bruins meet for the fourth time this season when they get together on Monday afternoon starting at 1:00 PM. Tonight is only the second time in franchise history the Falcons have hosted a game on New Year's Eve. The first and only other New Year's Eve game hosted by the Falcons was back on December 31, 1996 when Springfield beat the Albany River Rats 4-1.

The Falcons have won the last two meetings between these two divisional rivals, and in fact, the road team has been victorious in all three head-to-head match-ups between the Falcons and Bruins this season. Springfield won the most recent contest by a score of 2-1 at the Dunkin Donuts Center back on November 28. Rob Schremp netted the game-winner in overtime in that game. Schremp and teammate T.J. Kemp lead Springfield in scoring against Providence this year with three points each. Falcons goaltender Jeff Deslauriers has played in all three games against the Bruins in the season series posting a record of 2-1 with a 1.98 goals against average and .936 save percentage.

Providence forward Chris Collins leads the Bruins in scoring against the Falcons with two goals and one assist for three points in two games. Teammate Pascal Pelletier is tied with Collins for the team lead in goals against Springfield this year with two. Goaltender Tuukka Rask has been between the pipes in two of the three games between the Falcons and Bruins this season posting a mark of 1-1 with a 2.02 goals against average and .889 save percentage.

The Falcons head into Monday's action looking to snap a six-game winless streak (0-5-1-0) after suffering a 2-0 loss against the Lowell Devils on Saturday night at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons have been shut out in three of their last five games and are currently in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 16-14-2-3, three points behind third place Portland. Springfield will conclude a stretch of three straight home games this afternoon and after a stop in Lowell on Wednesday, the Falcons will be back at home next weekend for back-to-back home tilts on Friday against Providence and Saturday against Portland.

The Bruins skate into Springfield having won three straight games and holding on to the AHL's best record at

27-5-2-0 through 34 games. Providence has scored the most amount of goals in the league with 130 markers and they have won 13 of their last 15 contests. Providence most recently defeated the Portland Pirates in a shootout by a score of 4-3 on Saturday evening. The Bruins scored on all four of their shootout attempts on Saturday as David Krejci, Brett Skinner, Matt Hendricks, and Jeff Hoggan all converted for Providence. The Bruins rallied from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1 on Saturday as Pascal Pelletier, Byron Bitz and Hoggan all scored in regulation. Providence will play their next three straight games on the road where they have gone 14-2-1-0 in 17 contests away from the Dunkin Donuts Center this season.

FALCONS TRANSACTION UPDATE: The Falcons announced Sunday that forwards Jonas Almtorp and Stephane Goulet have been recalled from their ECHL affiliate, the Stockton Thunder. The Falcons also announced that forward Fredrik Johansson has been reassigned to the Thunder.

This will be Almtorp's second recall to the Falcons this month as the 6-foot-1, 190-pound native of Uppsala, Sweden has

collected seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points in 27 games with Stockton this season. In seven games with the Falcons this year, Almtorp hasn't registered a point. Almtorp was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the fourth round (111th overall) in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

Goulet started the season with the Falcons before being reassigned to Stockton on November 29. The 6-foot-3, 208-pound

native of Levis, Quebec scored Springfield's first goal of the season on October 5 at Portland and he has one goal in nine

games with the Falcons this season. In 12 games with the Thunder, Goulet collected four goals and 10 assists for 14 points.

Johansson has played in 25 games with the Falcons this season picking up four goals and one assist for five points and eight penalty minutes. The 6-foot, 187-pound native of Munkedal, Sweden was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the ninth round (274th overall) in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

BRUINS TEAM LEADERS: Providence forward Pascal Pelletier scored his league leading 21st goal of the season on Saturday night. Pelletier is third in the AHL in scoring with 21 goals and 20 assists for 41 points in 34 games played. Pelletier, who was never drafted, is in his third season with the Bruins after joining the team midway through the 2005-06 campaign. The Labrador City, Newfoundland native has 55 goals and 81 assists for 136 points in 167 career games with Providence....Goaltender Tuukka Rask leads the league in goals against average at 1.98. Rask has the fourth most wins in the league with 12, while Falcons goaltender Jeff Deslauriers remains second in the AHL in wins with 14.



American Hockey League Stories from December 31, 2007


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