Falcons Stumble Against River Rats, 3-1
December 4, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
Springfield, Mass. â The Springfield Falcons came up short to the Albany River Rats at the Springfield Civic Center on Saturday evening, falling 3-1. Defenseman Brian Chapman scored the lone Falcons' goal in the contest. Albany netminder Scott Clemmensen stopped 28 of 29 Springfield shots to collect his fifth win of the season. The defeat marked the first time in six home games the Falcons had not come away with a point.
The River Rats took a 1-0 lead 6:21 into the game when Falcons defenseman Doug O'Brien partially fanned on a clearing pass in the Springfield zone and had it intercepted by left wing Dean McAmmond. McAmmond, a veteran of 645 NHL games, walked in alone on Springfield goaltender Brian Eklund before banking a shot off the post and in for his fifth goal of the season.
The Falcons responded with a power-play goal at the 11:47 mark by Chapman. Shane Willis set up Chapman with a pass across the slot after the blue liner had snuck in from the right point. Chapman connected with a wrist shot from near the right face-off dot before Clemmensen could slide across the crease. The goal was Chapman's first of the season.
Albany left wing Ilkka Pikkarainen made the score 2-1 by lifting a shot under the crossbar to finish a River Rats rush 1:55 into the second period.
Left wing Ryan Murphy sealed the game for the Rats with an empty net goal with 23 seconds remaining to play.
The win was Albany's first in nine games.
The Falcons outshot the River Rats, 29-26, for the night.
Springfield converted one of eight power plays in the contest and killed off all four Albany chances with the man advantage.
Falcons right wing Evgeni Artukhin was ejected from the game in the first period for abusing official Scott Hoberg.
The Falcons will visit the Lowell Lock Monsters on Sunday for a 4:00 pm game. Tune into The ZONE â Sports Radio 640 to catch Marc Shelanski's play-by-play call of the game. The game can also be heard through the Internet by clicking on the MassLive.com CyberCast link on the Falcons official web site, www.falconsahl.com.
American Hockey League Stories from December 4, 2004
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