Falcons Host Sharks Tonight

Published on February 20, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


The Springfield Falcons and Worcester Sharks meet for the sixth time this season when they continue their intra-state rivalry on Friday night at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons are 1-2-2-0 against the Sharks this season, including 0-1-1-0 at The Nest. After winning the first game of the season series, the Falcons are winless in their last four games against the Sharks going 0-2-2-0 in that span. These two teams last played each other back on January 30 with Worcester winning that game by a score of 3-1 at the DCU Center.

Falcons center Tyler Spurgeon leads Springfield in scoring against Worcester this year with four assists in five games played. Guillaume Lefebvre leads Springfield in goals against the Sharks this year with two, while goaltender Devan Dubnyk has posted a 2.39 goals against average and .934 save percentage in five games against the Sharks this year.

Former Falcon and AHL All-Star Ryan Vesce leads the Sharks in scoring against Springfield this year with two goals and three assists for five points in four games, including a pair of game-winning markers in overtime. Worcester goaltenders have also produced some impressive numbers against the Falcons this year with Taylor Dakers going a perfect 2-0 with a 0.99 goals against average and .956 save percentage in two games against the Falcons. Fellow netminder Thomas Greiss is also 2-0 with a 1.50 goals against average and .927 save percentage in two games.

The Falcons enter Friday's game with momentum after beating the Portland Pirates 6-3 on Tuesday night at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons used six different goal scorers and they had 12 different skaters record at least a point in snapping their 11-game winless streak. Bryan Young earned the game's first star on Tuesday as he scored his first AHL/Pro goal and was a +1 rating. Young, Taylor Chorney, Colin McDonald, Geoff Paukovich, Sebastien Bisaillon and Ryan Stone all scored for the Falcons in Tuesday's victory. Mike Gabinet and Shane Willis both added two assists, while goaltender Dany Sabourin stopped 32 of 35 shots in earning his first win with the Falcons.

The Sharks head into Springfield currently with a record of 27-24-0-2 good for 56 points and fifth place in the Atlantic Division. Worcester is currently two points behind fourth place Lowell and three points behind third place Hartford. The Sharks will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak in Springfield tonight. Worcester concludes a seven-game road trip tonight going 1-5-0-0 during the previous six games away from the DCU Center.

ANOTHER BUSY WEEK OF PLAYER MOVEMENT: The Falcons announced Wednesday that forward Carl Corazzini has been reassigned to the AHL's Peoria Rivermen by their National Hockey League affiliate, the Edmonton Oilers. In return, the St. Louis Blues have reassigned forward Charles Linglet from Peoria to Springfield.

Linglet is in his fifth pro season and has played in 37 games for the Rivermen this year collecting one goal and eight assists for nine points and 23 penalty minutes. In 80 games with Peoria last year, the 6-foot-2, 212-pound native of Montreal, Quebec collected 24 goals and 42 assists for 66 points and 65 penalty minutes. During the 2006-07 campaign, Linglet recorded an AHL career high 31 goals in 73 games.

Corazzini collected seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points and 18 penalty minutes in 55 games played with Springfield this year. Corazzini spent the 2007-08 campaign with the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins where he collected 24 goals, 36 assists, 60 points and 14 penalty minutes in 80 games played. He led the Griffins in goals, assists, points and games played. Prior to last season with Grand Rapids, Corazzini spent two years with the AHL's Norfolk Admirals collecting 54 goals and 58 assists for 112 points in 143 career games.

JACQUES BACK TO EDMONTON: The Edmonton Oilers recalled left wing J.F. Jacques from the Falcons on Wednesday. Jacques has been recalled from the Oilers' affiliate following a two-week conditioning assignment. The 6'4", 217-pound forward missed the season's first 51 games due to a back injury and was assigned to Springfield for conditioning on February 6. In eight games with the Falcons, Jacques scored a goal and five assists for six points. He was even with 13 penalty minutes and his goal was scored on the power play.

SHARKS PLAYER/TEAM NOTES: The Sharks finished January with a 9-3-0-1 record with 19 points in 13 games including 6-1-0-0 at home, but they are just 1-5-0-0 in February.

After not scoring a power play goal in five straight games (0-19), the Sharks have scored a power play goal in three straight games (4-14).

Sharks captain Ryan Vesce is currently eighth in the AHL in points with 55 (17-38-55) and tops in overtime goals (4) and game-winning goals (7). He is currently riding a franchise-high 17-game point streak (9-18-27) and has 43 points (16-27-43) in his last 32gp. Vesce made his NHL debut this week and suited up for two games with the San Jose Sharks.

Lukas Kaspar was recalled by San Jose after he shined offensively in Worcester, as he had 19 points in his last 19 games (7-12-19).

The Sharks have 59 fighting major penalties this season through 53 games. Sixteen different players have dropped the gloves already this season including: Frazer McLaren (16), Brett Westgarth (11), Mike Moore (8), Brad Staubitz (8), Jason Demers (2), Andrew Desjardins (2), Jamie McGinn (2), James McEwan (2), Tom Cavanagh, Dan DaSilva, Kyle McLaren, Brendan Buckley, T.J. Fox, Cory Larose, Matt Jones and Riley Armstrong.

The Sharks have scored the sixth most shorthanded goals in the AHL with nine, but have allowed the second most against with 11.

Patrick Traverse is eighth in the AHL in scoring among defensemen with 31 points (7-24-31) and he is currently riding a five-game point streak (2-5-7).

Riley Armstrong leads the Sharks with 151 shots on goal.

Frazer McLaren is third among AHL rookies with 16 fighting major penalties and fifth in penalty minutes (118).

Steven Zalewski ranks second among AHL rookies with 142 shots on goal and 19th in rookie scoring with 30 points (11-19-30).

The Sharks have the second best winning percentage (.750) in the AHL in games that are decided after regulation. Worcester is 4-0 in overtime and 2-2 in the shootout.

Rookies Jason Demers and Steven Zalewski are the only Sharks to play in all 53 games this season.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 20, 2009


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