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Falcons Visit Lowell Wednesday After Grabbing Points in Last Four Games

April 5, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


Springfield, Mass. – The Springfield Falcons (21-44-4-3, 49 pts) play another four games in a five-day span this week beginning with a tilt against the Lock Monsters in Lowell on Wednesday night. The team will then return home for back-to-back games at the Springfield Civic Center on Friday night against the Worcester IceCats and Saturday evening versus the Manchester Monarchs. The Falcons will visit the IceCats in Worcester for the final time on Sunday.

The Falcons have collected at least a point in each of their last four games, posting a 2-0-2-0 record. Springfield defeated the Portland Pirates twice last week with five-goal efforts on both Wednesday and Sunday. In between, the Falcons pushed each of the top two-ranked teams in the Eastern Conference to overtime – eventually falling 1-0 to the Hartford Wolf Pack on Friday and 3-2 at Manchester on Saturday.

Team Notes: Springfield is 6-1-1-1 against the Pirates this season.... Sunday's 5-3 win at Portland snapped the Falcons' franchise record 16-game road losing streak.... LW Derek Bekar scored third-period game-tying goals in back-to-back contests over the weekend. His goal in Manchester on Saturday forced overtime while his tally on Sunday evened the contest before D Andreas Holmqvist netted the game-winner.... RW Evgeni Artukhin has posted points in each of his last three games (1g, 3a).... C Jason Jaspers moved into sixth place on the Falcons' all-time scoring list by posting his 123rd career point with the team on a goal in Wednesday's 5-2 win over Portland. Jaspers also registered an assist in Manchester on Saturday and scored against the Pirates on Sunday. The center skated in his 229th game as a Falcon on Wednesday to move into fourth place on the franchise's all-time games played list.... Rookie left wing Adam Henrich notched four points (1g, 3a) in the two games versus Portland last week. Henrich has posted nine points (3g, 6a) against the Pirates to lead the Falcons in the season series.... LW Jean-Francois Soucy scored his first goal with the Falcons on Sunday. The second-year pro is +5 over the last four games.

Roster Update: Henrich tallied a goal and an assist in his return to the lineup Wednesday after missing the previous seven games with an injury.... LW Mitch Fritz has missed the last 10 games due to an injury while D Mike Egener has been forced to sit out the last five contests.... RW Darren Reid missed all four games last week with an injury.... RW Evgeni Artukhin missed Friday's game against Hartford with an injury.... RW Jim Campbell suffered a broken jaw on Mar. 26 against the Albany River Rats and is out for the season.

Upcoming Opponents:

Falcons at Lowell Lock Monsters

Paul E. Tsongas Arena

Wednesday, Apr. 6

The Falcons face the Lock Monsters (41-25-1-5, 88 pts) in the ninth overall match-up of the season and the fifth meeting in Lowell.... Springfield is 2-6-0-0 against the third-place Monsters this season and 21-27-4 all-time versus the club.... The Lock Monsters have dropped their last two games after winning their previous four tilts.... LW Ryan Craig has scored six goals, including four on the power play, against Lowell to pace the Falcons this season.... Springfield G Brian Eklund has accumulated a 2-3-0 record, 2.96 goals against average, and .918 save percentage versus the Lock Monsters.... Lowell C Eric Staal, the second overall selection in the 2003 NHL Draft, has tallied 12 points (3g, 9a) against the Falcons this campaign.... Monsters G Cam Ward is 3-0-1 versus Springfield this season with a GAA of .98 and .968 SV%.... Lowell has converted nine of 29 power-play chances and scored four shorthanded goals in the season series.... Lock Monsters linemates RW Chuck Kobasew (+35), Staal (+34), and LW Colin Forbes (+30) hold the top three rankings in the AHL in plus/minus.... Kobasew leads the league with 11 game-winning goals this season. His 37 goals for the campaign are tied for second most in the AHL..... Staal shares the league lead in shorthanded goals with six.... Staal has tallied six points (3g, 3a) in the last five games.... Ward ranks second in the AHL in save percentage (.935) and seventh in goals against average (2.04).

Falcons vs. Worcester IceCats

Springfield Civic Center

Friday, Apr. 8

Falcons at Worcester IceCats

DCU Center

Sunday, Apr. 10

The Falcons face-off with the Worcester IceCats (36-30-4-3, 79 pts) in the last two meetings between the clubs on Friday and Sunday. The IceCats' franchise will move to Illinois to become the Peoria Rivermen next season after being sold by the St. Louis Blues in November.... The Falcons are 3-5-0-0 against the ‘Cats this season and 40-52-14 in the all-time series.... Rookie C Nick Tarnasky has posted six points (1g, 5a) to lead the Falcons against the IceCats this season.... C Jay McClement (5g, 4a) and former Hobey Baker Award winner LW Peter Sejna (3g, 6a) have each tallied nine points to pace Worcester in the season series.... The IceCats have scored nine power-play goals on 50 chances (18.0%) as well as two shorthanded goals versus Springfield this season.... The ‘Cats trail the Providence Bruins by seven points in the race for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.... Worcester is 1-7-0-1 over the last nine games.... IceCats RW Eric Boguniecki has scored five goals among eight points over the last five contests.... Worcester shares the AHL lead with 17 shorthanded goals this season. McClement and Sejna have each netted five shorthanders.... The IceCats lead the league in penalty killing on the road (89.4%) and are tied for third in overall penalty killing (87.6%).... Worcester is 20-0-1-2 when leading after the second period including a 14-0-0-0 mark at home.

Falcons vs. Manchester Monarchs

Springfield Civic Center

Saturday, Apr. 9

The Falcons challenge the first-place Monarchs (46-19-4-4, 100 pts) for the final time this season on Saturday. Springfield is 0-7-2-0 versus Manchester this season and 8-20-0 all-time against the fourth-year franchise.... The Monarchs hold a two-point lead over the second-place Wolf Pack in the Atlantic Division race with both teams entering the week with seven games remaining on the schedule.... Craig's five points (3g, 2a) pace the Falcons in the season series.... Manchester C Mike Cammalleri has recorded 19 points (8g, 11a) versus Springfield this season – the most of any AHL player. Cammalleri has been chosen as one of the three stars of the game in each of the previous nine meetings this season.... G Mattieu Garon is 5-0-0 including two shutouts with a 1.40 GAA and .944 SV% against the Falcons this season.... The Monarchs are 1-2-0-1 over their last four games.... Cammalleri has recorded six points (2g, 4a) over the last five contests.... Monarchs LW Dustin Brown has collected five helpers during his four-game assist streak.... Cammalleri's 43 goals this season paces the AHL. With 99 points for the campaign, he trails Binghamton C Jason Spezza by six points in the league scoring race.... Garon shares the AHL lead with Rochester's Ryan Miller for shutouts this season with eight.... Monarchs G Adam Hauser ranks fourth in the league with a 1.98 GAA.... Former Falcons forward Chris Schmidt has collected 18 points (5g, 13a) while skating in all 73 games for the Monarchs this season.

Upcoming Promotions:

Republican Night – Friday, Apr. 8: Find a coupon for Friday's game versus Worcester in The Republican newspaper to use for a $3 discount on tickets to the game.

Paint Your Face to Get in Free – Friday, Apr. 8: Fans who come to Friday's game with their face painted can get a free ticket at the Springfield Civic Center box office.

ROCK102 Night Sponsored by Molson – Saturday, Apr. 9: Three lucky fans will be selected to spend time in the Molson Canadian Money Machine. Register at the game to win.

Radio Broadcasts: Tune into The ZONE – Sports Radio 640 to hear all four Falcons' games this week. The Voice of the Falcons, Marc Shelanski, calls the action. The pre-game show begins thirty minutes prior to the opening face-off. Fans can also listen via the Internet by clicking on the MassLive.com Cybercast icon on the Falcons' official web site, www.falconsahl.com.

Tickets: Tickets for all Falcons' home games can be ordered in person or by phone through the Springfield Civic Center box office located along East Court Street. To order by phone, please call (413) 787-6600 or (800) 639-8602. Tickets can also be ordered online by visiting the Falcons' official web site, www.falconsahl.com. Groups of 15 or more can receive discount savings by contacting the Falcons' team office at (413) 739-3344. Group tickets must be ordered in advance.

This Week's Game Schedule:

Wed., Apr. 6 Falcons at Lowell Lock Monster 7:00 PM Paul E. Tsongas Arena The ZONE

Fri., Apr. 8 Falcons vs. Worcester IceCats 7:35 PM Springfield Civic Center The ZONE

Sat., Apr. 9 Falcons vs. Manchester Monarchs 7:05 PM Springfield Civic Center The ZONE

Sun., Apr. 10 Falcons at Worcester IceCats 4:05 PM DCU Center The ZONE

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