Falcons Host The Crunch Tonight

Published on November 14, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


GAME SETUP: The Springfield Falcons and Syracuse Crunch get together on Friday night at the MassMutual Center for the first of only two meetings this season. Tonight will also be the first time these two teams have met since the

2006-07 season when they split a pair of games that year with the home team winning both contests. This will also be the 29th all-time meeting between the Falcons and the Crunch with Springfield holding the advantage at 14-8-6.

The Falcons head into Friday's action having collected at least a point in each of their last five games posting a mark of 3-0-1-1 in that span. Springfield has posted a 5-1-1-1 mark in their last eight games and they just recently concluded a four-game road trip with a 2-0-1-1 record. The Falcons return to the MassMutual Center tonight for the first time since they beat the Lowell Devils by a score of 4-1 back on October 31. Springfield blanked the Worcester Sharks, 2-0, in their last game played on Tuesday, November 11. Derek Bekar and Gilbert Brule scored for the Falcons, while goaltender Devan Dubnyk was the game's first star making 46 saves in recording his first American Hockey League shutout. The Falcons will start a stretch of three games in three days this weekend as they head to Worcester on Saturday with the Sharks heading to Springfield on Sunday. Springfield currently has a record of 6-3-2-1 on the season, tied for second place in the Atlantic Division.

The Crunch head into Springfield in a first place tie with the Manitoba Moose in the Western Conference's North Division. Syracuse has a record of 10-3-0-0 good for 20 points and they defeated the Albany River Rats by a score of 5-3 on Wednesday night extending their winning streak to three straight games. Clay Wilson, Jonathan Sigalet, Craig MacDonald, Maksim Mayorov, and Kris Russell all scored for Syracuse, while goaltender Dan LaCosta started the game stopping 11 of 14 shots in 24:30 of action. Fellow netminder Sebastian Dahm was perfect stopping all 27 shots he faced in 35:30 of action. The Crunch will also begin a stretch of three games in three days as they return home on Saturday to host Chicago before heading to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Sunday.

AHL DEBUT: Defenseman Rob Bina made his AHL debut on November 11 at Worcester collecting one assist. Bina started the season with the Falcons' ECHL affiliate, the Stockton Thunder, where he collected one goal and two assists for three points in seven games. Bina completed his final season at the University of North Dakota last year and was a teammate of fellow Edmonton Oilers prospect Taylor Chorney. Bina ranked second among all North Dakota defensemen in scoring during the 2007-08 season. He signed a standard American Hockey League two-way contract with the Falcons on July 10, 2008.

BETWEEN THE PIPES: Falcons goaltender Devan Dubnyk has started all 12 of Springfield's games this season and he currently is tied for third in the AHL in wins. Dubnyk was the game's top star on November 11 when he made 46 saves in recording his first AHL shutout over the Worcester Sharks. Dubnyk is tied for the league lead in games played and he is also second in minutes played with 688.

FILLING THE NET: Falcons forward Gilbert Brule scored his fifth goal of the season on Tuesday at Worcester giving him three goals in his last two games. For the season, he has five goals in seven contests. Brule is second on the Falcons in goals and fourth in points. Brule played in 16 games for the Syracuse Crunch last season collecting five goals and five assists for 10 points. Brule was originally drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets sixth overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft before being acquired by the Edmonton Oilers from Columbus in exchange for Raffi Torres on July 1, 2008.

300 FOR LEFEBVRE: Falcons forward Guillaume Lefebvre played in his 300th career AHL game on November 8 at Hartford. Lefebvre has played in 11 games for the Falcons this season collecting two assists and 36 penalty minutes. Lefebvre has 50 goals and 57 assists for 107 points and 527 penalty minutes in 301 career AHL contests splitting time between Philadelphia, Wilkes-Barre and Springfield.

OFFENSE FROM THE BLUELINE: The Crunch has a pair of defensemen who rank in the top five in scoring among defensemen. Clay Wilson has six goals and five assists for 11 points in 13 games and Jonathan Sigalet has five goals and six assists for 11 points in 12 games. Wilson leads all AHL defensemen in goals and Sigalet is second. Sigalet has goals in each of his last two games.

CRUNCH PLAYER STREAKS: Clay Wilson has points in two straight games (1g, 1a)...Craig MacDonald has points in three straight contests (2g, 2a)...Mike York has points in three straight games (1g, 3a)...Nikita Filatov has points in four straight contests (2g, 6a).

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American Hockey League Stories from November 14, 2008


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