Falcons Host River Rats Tonight
Published on March 6, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
The Springfield Falcons and Albany River Rats meet for the third time this season when they go head-to-head on Friday night at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons are 1-1 against the Rats this year with the home team winning both games. Tonight will also be the 75th all-time meeting between Springfield and Albany with the Falcons posting 31 wins, 34 losses and nine games decided in overtime in that span.
Rob Schremp leads the Falcons in scoring against the River Rats this year with one goal and four assists for five points in two games. Ryan Potulny is the Falcons' leader in goals against the Rats with two, while goaltender Devan Dubnyk has appeared in both contests against the Rats this year posting a mark of 1-1.
Jakub Petruzalek leads Albany in scoring against Springfield this year with one goal and two assists for three points in two games played. Albany goaltender Justin Peters has also appeared in both contests this season against Springfield also going 1-1 in two decisions.
The Falcons will play back-to-back home games this weekend before having a rare Sunday off. Springfield will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak tonight after falling to the Manchester Monarchs on Wednesday night by a score of 5-1 at the Verizon Wireless Arena. Ryan Potulny scored the Falcons' lone goal on Wednesday, his team-leading 25th marker of the year.
The Rats head into Springfield with a record of 26-27-3-3 good for 58 points and sixth place in the East Division. Albany beat the Norfolk Admirals by a score of 4-2 in their last game played this past Sunday. The River Rats are currently 14 points behind Binghamton for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East Division with still 21 games remaining. Following tonight's contest, Albany completes their weekend in Worcester on Saturday.
PITTON RECALLED FROM STOCKTON: The Springfield Falcons, proud members of the American Hockey League, announced Thursday they have recalled goaltender Bryan Pitton from their ECHL affiliate, the Stockton Thunder. Pitton has spent the entire 2008-09 season with the Thunder appearing in 30 games posting a record of 9-17-2 with a 3.34 goals against average and .890 save percentage.
The Edmonton Oilers signed Pitton to a three-year NHL entry level contract on May 14, 2008. The 6-foot-2, 176-pound goaltender completed his third season with the Ontario Hockey League's Brampton Battalion last year, registering a career-best 2.54 goals-against average. The native of Brampton, Ontario appeared in 39 games with the Battalion in 2007-08 and was 22-13-2 with a 2.54 goals-against average, a .911 save percentage and an OHL leading four shutouts.
The Oilers' third choice (fifth round) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Pitton made his OHL debut with Brampton in 2005-06 and tied the team record for most wins in a season by a rookie with a 16-4-0 record and a 3.43 goals-against average in 24 games. He made a team record 61 appearances in 2006-07 and also set team records for minutes played (3,494), most starts (60) and most consecutive starts (19).
HELMINEN RECALLED BY CAROLINA: The Albany River Rats announced Tuesday that center Dwight Helminen was recalled by the Carolina Hurricanes, their National Hockey League affiliate.
Helminen, 25, was recalled to Carolina on an emergency recall after Hurricanes forward Jussi Jokinen recently returned to Finland following the death of his father. The Hancock, Michigan native has 30 points (15 goals, 15 assists) in 54 games for the River Rats this season; he is tied for third on the team in goals and ranks fifth in points.
This is Helminen's second NHL recall of the year; he made his NHL debut with Carolina on October 28th at Montreal and skated in eight games for the Hurricanes with three points (1 goal, 2 assists), while averaging 10:51 of ice time per game.
American Hockey League Stories from March 6, 2009
- Admirals Complete Sweep of Chops - Milwaukee Admirals
- Talbot's Early Goal Paces Rivermen to 4-2 Win - Peoria Rivermen
- P-Bruins Fall In Shootout To Moose 3-2 - Providence Bruins
- Monarchs Go Russian Past Pack - Manchester Monarchs
- Moose Beat Bruins In Shootout, 3-2 - Manitoba Moose
- Greentree Nets 30th As Flames Top Hogs - Abbotsford Heat
- Admirals Top Devils 4-1 - Norfolk Admirals
- Six different goal-scorers pitch in to lead Sound Tigers to divisional win over Binghamton - Bridgeport Islanders
- IceHogs Go Up in Flames 4-1 - Rockford IceHogs
- Monsters Hang On For Another Home Win - Cleveland Monsters
- Bulldogs blank Marlies - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Monarchs top Wolf Pack - Connecticut Whale
- Crunch Charge Back to Top Penguins - Syracuse Crunch
- Sharks spook Phantoms with complete team effort - Worcester Sharks
- Dwyer Double Leads River Rats To 5-3 Win Over Falcons - Albany River Rats
- Devils Shot Down By Admirals, 4-1 - Albany Devils
- Fornatarob tars Phantoms - Adirondack Phantoms
- Kings Recall Westgarth - Manchester Monarchs
- Monarchs Road Game Time Change - Manchester Monarchs
- Lowell Devils Change Time For March 24 Game Versus Manchester - Albany Devils
- Admirals Announce Transactions - Norfolk Admirals
- Amerks Take On Monsters Tonight In Lake Erie - Rochester Americans
- Sound Tigers Auction Specialty Jerseys For Autism Awareness - Bridgeport Islanders
- "Tip-A-Riv" Dinner Raises $5,478 for Children's Hospital - Peoria Rivermen
- "Flood The Ice" Debuts On River Rats Website - Albany River Rats
- Brown Joins Penguins From Wheeling - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Amerks And Knighthawks Raise Nearly $45,000 At Cystic Fibrosis Dinner - Rochester Americans
- AHL Quick Hits - AHL
- Griffins' Second Three-in-Three at Home Highlighted by Giveaways - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Falcons Host River Rats Tonight - Springfield Falcons
- Eric Hutchinson to Perform Live at Wolf Pack Game Wednesday, March 18 - Connecticut Whale
- Albany Returns To Glens Falls This Sunday - Albany River Rats
- Ewing, Morrison Returned To Wheeling - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
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