Falcons Host Devils Tonight
January 17, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
The Springfield Falcons and Lowell Devils meet for the sixth time this season when they face-off at the MassMutual Center on Saturday night. The Falcons are 2-3-0-0 against the Devils this season including 1-1 at The Nest. Lowell has won the last two match-ups in the season series after Springfield had won back-to-back games against the Devils on October 31 and November 1. These two teams will meet again on Monday, January 19 when they play a 2 pm matinee at the Paul Tsongas Arena. Bryan Lerg (4gp, 2g, 2a) and Rob Schremp (4gp, 0g, 4a) are the Falcons' active leaders in scoring against the Devils this year with four points each. Pascal Rheaume leads Lowell in scoring against Springfield with two goals and five assists for seven points in five games.
The Falcons head into Saturday's contest looking to rebound from a 3-1 loss suffered on Friday night against the Hartford Wolf Pack at the XL Center. Springfield took an early 1-0 lead on a first period power play goal by Rob Schremp, but Hartford responded with three unanswered goals, including two on the man advantage. Springfield defenseman Jake Taylor returned to the Falcons' lineup on Friday after missing 28 games due to injury. The Falcons are currently in seventh place in the Atlantic Division with a record of
14-21-5-1, good for 34 points and five points behind sixth place Manchester. Springfield will have Sunday off before heading to Lowell on Monday.
The Devils head into Springfield one of the hottest teams in the AHL with a record of 7-3-0-0 in their last 10 games. Lowell has a record of 19-17-1-3 on the season good for 42 points and fifth place in the Atlantic Division. The Devils suffered a 5-4 loss in Philadelphia on Friday night despite outshooting the Phantoms
41-20 in the game. Ryan Murphy, Michael Swift (2), and Matt Halischuk all scored for Lowell last night.
WELCOME BACK SHANE: The Falcons announced on Friday that they have signed forward Shane Willis to a Professional Tryout Agreement (PTO). Willis made his 2008-09 Falcons debut on Friday night in Hartford.
Willis made his 2008-09 debut on January 14, 2009 as a member of the ECHL's Wheeling Nailers where he collected one assist. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound native of Edmonton, Alberta was limited to just one game during the 2007-08 campaign after suffering a season-ending injury while he was with the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals.
Willis returns to Springfield after spending both the 2002-03 and 2004-05 seasons with the Falcons. Willis was captain of the Falcons during the 2004-05 campaign when he collected 18 goals and 16 assists for 34 points in 58 games.
Willis is entering his 11th full season of pro hockey and in 287 career AHL games, he has collected 112 goals, 127 assists for 239 career points. In 174 career NHL contests, he has registered 31 goals and 43 assists for 74 points.
Willis started his pro career in the Carolina Hurricanes organization after he was drafted by Carolina in the fourth round (88th overall) in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. He has scored at least 20 goals in a season five times in his pro career, including 20 markers with the Hurricanes during the 2000-01 campaign.
LOWELL PLAYER NOTES:
Jon DiSalvatore has points in three straight games collecting three assists in that span. He has also registered at least a point in eight of his last 11 games, including a hat trick on January 4 against Manchester.
Nicklas Bergfors is on a six-game scoring streak having collected one goal and six assists in that span.
Michael Swift has scored a goal in three straight games totaling five markers in that span. Swift has back-to-back two-goal games entering tonight's action.
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