Falcons Ready To Host Sharks Tonight
January 23, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
The Springfield Falcons and Worcester Sharks meet for the fourth time this season when they get together on Friday night at the MassMutual Center. This will only be the Sharks second visit to Springfield this year with Worcester beating Springfield 3-0 back on November 16. Worcester beat Springfield in overtime by a score of 3-2 in the most recent match-up back on December 10. Two of the three games in the season series have been shutouts with the Falcons blanking the Sharks 2-0 back on November 11.
Derek Bekar leads the Falcons in goals against the Sharks with two markers, and he is also tied with Tyler Spurgeon (0g, 2a) for the team lead in points against Worcester. Falcons goaltender Devan Dubnyk has a 1.99 goals against average and .946 save percentage in three games against Worcester this year.
The Sharks have five players all tied for the club lead in scoring against the Falcons with T.J. Fox (2g,0a), Jamie McGinn (1g,1a), Ryan Vesce (1g,1a), Riley Armstrong (0g,2a), and Jason Demers (0g,2a) all tied with two points each. Goaltender Taylor Dakers is a perfect 2-0 with a 0.99 goals against average and .956 save percentage in two games against Springfield.
The Falcons head into Friday's action having won three of their last four games and have improved their record to 16-21-5-1 good for 38 points. Springfield is only three points behind sixth place Manchester and six points behind fifth place Lowell. The Falcons will host the Providence Bruins on Saturday night before heading into the All-Star Break.
The Sharks skate into Springfield having earned at least a point in their last three games going 2-0-0-1 in that span. Worcester has a record of 4-1-0-1 in their last six games and they have improved their overall record to 23-18-0-2 on the season good for 48 points and third place in the Atlantic Division. The Sharks will head to Lowell on Saturday before the DCU Center hosts the AHL Skills Competition on Sunday and AHL All-Star Game on Monday.
BUSY WEEK OF TRANSACTIONS: The Springfield Falcons announced Tuesday the Edmonton Oilers have assigned forwards Gilbert Brule and Liam Reddox to the Falcons. Brule has appeared in 11 games with the Oilers this season scoring two goals and an assist with 12 penalty minutes. He scored his first career Oilers goal versus St. Louis on January 11th and then registered his first multiple point game of the season with the game-winning goal and an assist in the Oilers 5-2 win at Washington on January 13th. The 5'10", 180 pound native of Edmonton was third on the Falcons scoring list at the time of his recall to the Oilers on December 31st. He has scored 11-5-16 with 34 penalty minutes in 19 games with Edmonton's AHL affiliate and was second in goals, while being tied for the team lead with six power play goals.
Reddox has scored 3-2-5 with eight penalty minutes in 23 games with Edmonton this season. Recalled from Springfield on November 14th, he scored his first career NHL point with a goal versus Colorado on November 15th. The 5'10", 180 pound forward from Whitby, Ontario appeared in 12 games with Springfield earlier this season and netted 5-4-9 with two penalty minutes.
The Falcons also announced this week that they have assigned forward Geoff Paukovich and defenseman Josef Hrabal to their ECHL affiliate, the Stockton Thunder and assigned forward Kelly Czuy to the ECHL's Las Vegas Wranglers.
WORCESTER PLAYER STREAKS:
Worcester defenseman Patrick Traverse has points in two straight games collecting one goal and three assists in that span.
Steven Zalewski has points in two straight games posting one goal and one assist.
Ryan Vesce has points in 11 straight games collecting six goals and 10 assists in that span.
Jamie McGinn has goals in back-to-back games and he is also on a three-game scoring streak.
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from January 23, 2009
- Monsters Slide Past Admirals - Norfolk Admirals
- Admirals Fall to San Antonio 5-1 - Milwaukee Admirals
- Aeros beat Peoria 5-2, win fourth straight - Houston Aeros
- Houston Downs Rivermen on the Road, 5-2 - Peoria Rivermen
- IceHogs roll to 6-2 win at home - Rockford IceHogs
- Crunch Dismantle Marlies - Syracuse Crunch
- Chops fall in Rockford Friday; Iowa returns home Saturday - Iowa Chops
- Netminder Makes 43 Saves To Lift Phantoms Past Monarchs - Adirondack Phantoms
- Griffins Smother Flames in Shootout, 2-1 - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Rampage Sail Past Admirals 5-1 - San Antonio Rampage
- Bulldogs chase off Wolves in 3-2 win - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Munroe Spooks Monarchs - Manchester Monarchs
- Devils top Wolf Pack 3-2 - Albany Devils
- Pens win fourth straight versus Bears - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Moose upset Ameriks in shootout, 3-2 - Manitoba Moose
- Vesce Clips Falcons in OT, 4-3 - Worcester Sharks
- River Rats Out-Muscle Binghamton 4-1 - Albany River Rats
- River Rats Out-Muscle Binghamton 4-1 - Albany River Rats
- Devils Nip Wolf Pack, 3-2 - Albany Devils
- Pirates top Sound Tigers, 1-0 - Bridgeport Islanders
- Quad City Captures Regulation Point Despite Griffins Comeback - Abbotsford Heat
- Three Bulldogs Grads to play in NHL All-Star Game - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Darius Rucker Added to Admirals Concert Series - Milwaukee Admirals
- Purcell Stars Again - Manchester Monarchs
- Griffins' "Puck for Plates" Program Returns Tonight - Grand Rapids Griffins
- AHL All-Star Classic to be carried by My Network Television - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins celebrate Hockey N' Heels March 7th - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Phantoms Game With Hamilton On February 16 Moved To Wachovia Center - Adirondack Phantoms
- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins accepting vendor reservations for first Sports Industry Career Fair - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Ross Selected To AHL All-Star Classic - Adirondack Phantoms
- Lake Erie's Tyler Weiman Added to AHL All-Star Roster - Cleveland Monsters
- Center Derek MacKenzie Added to Canadian AHL All-Star Roster - Syracuse Crunch
- Wolf Pack's Anisimov Earns AHL All-Star Classic Berth - Connecticut Whale
- On-Ice Passes for BoDeans on Sale Saturday - Milwaukee Admirals
- Admirals RW Brandon Segal Named to AHL All-Star Squad - Norfolk Admirals
- Five added to rosters for 2009 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Charter Communications - AHL
- Chaz Johnson And Shawn Weller Assigned To Elmira - Binghamton Senators
- B-Sens Sign Forward Josh Aspenlind - Binghamton Senators
- AHL Quick Hits - AHL
- Goebel Reassigned To Wheeling - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Moose sign Collins to PTO - Manitoba Moose
- Rampage Sign Jeff May to AHL Contract - San Antonio Rampage
- Falcons Ready To Host Sharks Tonight - Springfield Falcons
- Amerks Host Moose Tonight - Rochester Americans
- Griffins Look to Scorch Flames - Grand Rapids Griffins
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
