Falcons Host Pirates Tonight
Published on March 9, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
GAME SETUP: The Springfield Falcons and Portland Pirates meet for the eighth time this season when these two Atlantic Division rivals face-off at the MassMutual Center Friday night presented by Porter and Chester Institute. The Falcons are 5-1-0-1 against the Pirates this season, including 2-1 on home ice. Springfield and Portland haven't met since back on January 5 when the Falcons beat the Pirates 4-3 at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons used a pair of goals from Daniel Corso on that evening, including a penalty shot goal by Corso to open the scoring. Eric Healey added three assists for the Birds back on January 5, while goaltender Falcons goaltender Karri Ramo made 27 saves in the victory. Portland center Petteri Wirtanen scored two goals for the Pirates back on January 5 earning the game's second star.
Falcons forwards Eric Healey and Daniel Corso are tied for the team lead in scoring against the Pirates this season with 11 points each. Healey has five goals and six assists in seven games, while Corso has three goals and eight assists in seven games against Portland this year. Goaltender Karri Ramo has played in six of the seven games against the Pirates this year and has a record of 5-1 with a 2.30 goals against average and .929 save percentage in that span.
Pirates center Petteri Wirtanen leads Portland in scoring against Springfield this season with three goals and two assists for five points in seven games, while teammate Brian Salcido is tied with Wirtanen for the club lead in points against Springfield this year.
The Falcons have been off since this past Sunday when they beat the Worcester Sharks in a shootout, 3-2, at the DCU Center. Springfield received goals from Adam Henrich and P.J. Atherton, while Daniel Corso scored the game-winner in the shootout. Goaltender Karri Ramo stopped all eight shooters in the extra frame earning his league-leading fifth shootout win of the season. Springfield has only played one game in the previous eight days, but they will return to three games in three days this weekend when they host Portland and Providence and visit Hartford on Sunday.
The Pirates head into Springfield heaving defeated the Worcester Sharks, 4-1, on Wednesday night at the Cumberland County Civic Center. Portland used four different goal scorers in the win receiving markers from Geoff Peters, Drew Miller, Ryan Carter and Mark Hartigan. The Pirates have won their last two games and enter tonight's action with a record of 27-22-3-8 good for 65 points and sixth place in the Atlantic Division. Portland is two points behind fifth place Worcester and three points behind fourth place Lowell. The Pirates return home on Saturday to host the Hershey Bears, followed by a Sunday matinee on home ice against the Philadelphia Phantoms.
CHANGING PLACES: The Springfield Falcons and Portland Pirates have been linked in some transactions recently involving the Falcons' National Hockey League affiliate, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pirates' NHL affiliate the Anaheim Ducks.
Back on February 20, the Tampa Bay Lightning acquired defenseman Shane O'Brien and a third round selection at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for goaltender Gerald Coleman and Tampa Bay's first-round selection in 2007. Coleman had played in three games for the Birds this year posting a record of 2-1 with a 1.50 goals against average and .960 save percentage. Coleman led all Falcons goaltenders in games played last year appearing in 43 contests posting a mark of 14-21-3 with a 3.88 goals against average and .880 save percentage. Just one week later on February 27, the Lightning acquired defenseman Joe Rullier from the Ducks in exchange for fellow blueliner Doug O'Brien. The Falcons also acquired defenseman Nick Kuiper from the Pirates in exchange for future considerations on February 27 and Kuiper made his Falcons debut on March 4 at Worcester. O'Brien remains ninth on Springfield's all-time games played list with 201. Kuiper had played in seven games for the Pirates this year not registering a point, while Rullier had appeared in six games with Portland collecting one assist and 14 penalty minutes.
American Hockey League Stories from March 9, 2007
- P-Bruins Defeat Phantoms 3-2 - Providence Bruins
- Rampage's Ferraro Earns Bragging Rights Over Twin Brother - San Antonio Rampage
- Admirals Top Hamilton 3-2 - Milwaukee Admirals
- Stars franchise best eight-game road winning streak snapped - Iowa Chops
- Rivermen Fall in San Antonio 7-5 - Peoria Rivermen
- Ak-Sar-Ben Knights Shutout By Griffins, 1-0 - Abbotsford Heat
- Late Griffins' Goal Blanks Knights, 1-0 - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Monarchs Lose To Former Coach - Manchester Monarchs
- Bulldogs edged by Admirals - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Sound Tigers Get Point in Defeat - Bridgeport Islanders
- Records Met and Felled in Admirals Victory - Norfolk Admirals
- Boudreau, Bears win at Manchester, 5-3 - Hershey Bears
- Providence Comes Back For 3-2 Win Over Phantoms - Adirondack Phantoms
- Devils Sweep Home-and-Home with Albany, 3-1 - Albany Devils
- Wolf Pack Hold "Edu-Skate" III Game for School Children- Wed, March 28th at 11 a.m. - Connecticut Whale
- Bears and Monarchs meet Friday in New Hampshire - Hershey Bears
- Pair assigned to Pack - Connecticut Whale
- Foy recalled; Home game Saturday - Houston Aeros
- Labatt's Celebrity Bartending Series Continue at Buffalo Wild Wings - Syracuse Crunch
- Falcons Host Pirates Tonight - Springfield Falcons
- AHL Quick Hits - AHL
- Columbus Blue Jackets Recall Forward Alexandre Picard From Crunch - Syracuse Crunch
- Moose Re-assign Bolduc to Bakersfield - Manitoba Moose
- Crunch Announce details of Score with Edy's Program - Syracuse Crunch
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