Falcons Shutout by Fleury and Pens, 4-0
March 4, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
Wilkes-Barre, Penn. â The Springfield Falcons fell to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 4-0, before a crowd of 8,358 at Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza on Friday evening. Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, the top overall selection in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, made 14 saves to post his fourth shutout of the season while former Falcons left wing Ramzi Abid scored twice.
Penguins defenseman Alain Nasreddine opened scoring with his third goal of the season at 3:32 of the first period. Abid followed with his 20th goal of the season at the 9:51 mark as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton converted the first power play for either team in the game.
The Falcons pressured to narrow the two-goal deficit late in the second period. The club's best chance came when right wing Jim Campbell redirected a centering feed from Craig Darby. However, Fleury used his quick reactions to deny the attempt after nearly being caught out of position.
Springfield rookie Nick Tarnasky jumped on a turnover by Wilkes-Barre's Chris Kelleher to skate in alone on Fleury 2:30 into the final frame. Fleury flashed his glove to maintain his shutout.
Abid scored his second marker of the night and 21st of the season with a wraparound effort 8:46 into the third period.
Penguins center Erik Christensen capped scoring with 56 seconds remaining in the game.
A pair of brawls in the final minute of the contest resulted in a combined 82 penalty minutes being issued to the teams. Falcons rookie Andre Deveaux received a game misconduct.
Fleury improved his record on the season to 21-11-3 while collecting the fifth shutout of his pro career. Brian Eklund made 20 saves in the Springfield net.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton center Shane Endicott assisted on both of Abid's goals.
Springfield received two power plays in the game and killed off five of the Penguins' six opportunities with the man advantage.
Center Jason Jaspers returned to the Falcons' lineup after missing the previous 14 games with an injury.
The Falcons finished the two-game season series against the Pens with a record of 0-1-0-1 and are 3-3-2 in all-time meetings.
The Falcons will visit the Manchester Monarchs in their next game on Wednesday. The club will return to the home ice of the Springfield Civic Center to host Lowell Lock Monsters next Friday. To purchase tickets, visit the Springfield Civic Center box office, call (413) 787-6600 or (800) 639-8602 to order by phone, or log onto www.falconsahl.com to order tickets online.
For a complete box score of Friday's game, please click on the following link: http://www.theahl.com/AHLBoxscores0405/140056.html
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