Falcons Start 2011 With Impressive Win
Published on January 1, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
You couldn't have asked for a better start to 2011 for the Springfield Falcons. Gustaf Wesslau stopped 25 shots, including a penalty shot, and the Falcons received goals from Nick Holden, Ben Guite and Cody Goloubef in leading Springfield to a 3-1 win over the Manchester Monarchs on Saturday at the MassMutual Center. A very energetic crowd of 4,196 saw Springfield earn at least a point for the sixth time in their last seven games going 4-1-0-2 in that span.
Entering Saturday's contest, the Falcons were facing a Monarchs team that had won six straight games, but Springfield used a very strong performance to improve their own record to 16-15-1-3 on the season. The tone was set in the first five minutes of Saturday's game as there were two quick fights to highlight the physical play right from the opening faceoff. Dane Byers and Colten Tuebert collected fighting majors, followed by Nick Tarnasky and Justin Johnson going toe to toe.
With just one minute remaining in the first period, the Falcons took a 1-0 lead when Guite won a faceoff directly back to Holden and his slap shot beat Jeff Zatkoff giving the Falcons a one goal lead after 20 minutes.
In the second period, Springfield built a 2-0 lead when Goloubef scored at 5:28 when he took a pass from Trevor Frischmon and found the back of the net for his third goal of the year.
With the Falcons holding on to a 2-0 lead, Manchester's Viatcheslav Voynov scored his sixth marker of the campaign at 18:36 of the middle period cutting Springfield's lead to 2-1.
In the third period, Manchester had a chance to even the score when Andrei Loktionov was awarded a penalty shot, but Wesslau made the save and once again turned the momentum in the Falcons favor. Less than a minute after the penalty shot, the Falcons regained their two goal lead when Guite tallied his fifth goal of the year on a nice setup from Matt Calvert and Tomas Kubalik giving Springfield an insurance goal and a 3-1 advantage.
American Hockey League Stories from January 1, 2011
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- Aeros Rally in Final Minute, Beat Rampage 4-3 - Houston Aeros
- Last Minute Rally Puts Aeros over Rampage 4-3 - San Antonio Rampage
- Islanders Acquire Defenseman Ty Wishart - Bridgeport Islanders
- Manitoba Drops New Year's Day Clash with Chicago 3-2 - Manitoba Moose
- Former Amerk Spoils New Year's Celebration in Rochester - Rochester Americans
- Lightning Acquire G Dwayne Roloson From Islanders - Norfolk Admirals
- New Year, Same Result Against Rivermen - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Falcons Start 2011 With Impressive Win - Springfield Falcons
- Wolves Ring In New Year With 3-2 Win In Manitoba - Chicago Wolves
- Paetsch Paces Crunch to 4-1 Win Over Rochester - Syracuse Crunch
- Monarchs Drop New Year's Ball - Manchester Monarchs
- Bulldogs Shut out by Monsters 3-0 - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Whale win over Bruins - Connecticut Whale
- Allen Opens 2011 With Fifth Shutout - Peoria Rivermen
- Greg Moore Game-Winner Extends Streak - Adirondack Phantoms
- Admirals Comeback Falls Short in 4-3 Loss to Penguins - Milwaukee Admirals
- Brust the Difference as Senators Blank Checkers, 3-0 - Charlotte Checkers
- Late Goal Downs Devils in Adirondack - Albany Devils
- Aeros Sign Jed Ortmeyer - Houston Aeros
- P-Bruins Fall to Whale 6-2 - Providence Bruins
- Game Night: Amerks, Crunch Ring in the New Year Tonight at Blue Cross Arena - Rochester Americans
- Anaheim Reassigns Defenseman John de Gray from Elmira to Syracuse - Syracuse Crunch
- Canadiens Assign Brett Festerling to Bulldogs - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Falcons Host the Monarchs Tonight - Springfield Falcons
- Omark Assigned to Oklahoma City; Belle Recalled by Edmonton - Oklahoma City Barons
- Barons Notes for December 28 - Oklahoma City Barons
- Preview: Aeros, Rampage Kick off 2011 - Houston Aeros
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