Falcons Weekly Notes

Published on January 23, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


THIS WEEK'S GAME PREVIEWS

--WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2007 at Manchester Monarchs--

The Falcons travel to Manchester looking to end the Monarchs four-game winnings streak and to pick up a couple of points from a fellow Atlantic Division team. Manchester remains in first-place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 26-12-6-1 good for 59 points. Wednesday marks the 6th meeting between the teams with the Monarchs coming away with four victories. The Falcons one win on the season series came in Manchester back on December 1st. Falcons captain Norm Milley scored midway through the overtime period. Milley, currently second on the team in points with 37, leads the Falcons with two goals and three assists in five games against the Monarchs this season.

The Monarchs boast having the 2007 starting Canadian All-Star goaltender Jason LaBarbera in net. Having logged more minutes and facing more shots than any goalie in the AHL, LaBarbera has had great success against the Falcons this season. He has posted a 3-1 record against the Falcons including a shutout at home on December 31st. Manchester is led in scoring with 16 goals and 19 assists for 35 points in 40 games played.

--FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2007 vs Lowell Devils--

The Devils travel to Springfield to take on the Falcons in the first of a two-day homestand for the Birds. The Falcons lead the season series at 3-2. The Falcons are looking to overcome the outcome of the previous meeting at the Mass Mutual Center in which they saw the Devils skate away with a 4-2 win back on December 6. Norm Milley scored one of two Falcons goals in that game giving him his team leading eighth point against the Devils. Along with Milley, assistant captain Eric Healey and rookie Blair Jones have enjoyed great success against the Devils this season. Both Healey and Jones have recorded three goals and four assists for seven points in five meetings this season.

The Devils hope to snap a four-game winless streak in which they have gone 0-3-1-0 and have dropped all four games to Atlantic Division rivals. The Falcons, coming into this week, are currently three points ahead of the Devils in the standings. Justin Papineau leads the Devils in scoring with 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points in 29 games played. Chris Minard leads Lowell in goals with 17 this year. Goaltender Frank Doyle has played in 30 games this season for Lowell posting a record of 12-16-1 with a 2.58 goals against average and .914 save percentage.

--SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 2007 vs Philadelphia Phantoms--

The Falcons welcome the rare chance to host the Eastern Division Philadelphia Phantoms for the only time this season. Saturday will only be the 19th meeting between the Falcons and Phantoms. The matchup also marks the return of Darren Reid to the MassMutual Center since being traded to the Flyers back on November 9th. The Falcons in return received forward Daniel Corso who in 32 games with the Birds has seven goals and 22 assists for 29 points.

Mark Cullen leads Philadelphia in scoring with seven goals and 19 assists for 26 points in 32 games played. The Phantoms are currently in sixth place in the East Division with a record of 15-23-2-3 good for 35 points.

LAST WEEK'S GAME RECAPS

--FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 2007 AT Providence Bruins W - 3-2 (SO)-

Shootout goals from Daniel Corso and Eric Healey were enough to earn the win for the Falcons. The Falcons opened the scoring midway through the first period as defenseman Doug O'Brien scored his third goal of the year. The Bruins tied the game at the 15:54 mark as rookie Kris Versteeg found the back of the net. Less than two minutes later Petr Kalus put the Bruins in the lead 2-1. Norm Milley and Andy Delmore were able to assist Eric Healey on the game-tying goal at 3:37 of the second period. The teams went on to play scoreless third and overtime periods. David Krejci was the only Bruins shooter to beat Karri Ramo in the shootout. Ramo finished with 31 saves.

--SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 2007 VS Worcester Sharks W - 2-1--

Bouncing back from a loss in their previous meeting at the MassMutual Center, the Falcons were able to squeeze by with a 2-1 win over the Sharks. After two scoreless periods, Blair Jones was able to solve Sharks goalie Tomas Greiss putting the Falcons up 1-0. Eric Healey scored his 19th goal of the season at 14:54 of the third period. The Sharks made an attempt to get back into the game when Josh Prudden scored his first goal of the season late in the final period. Jonathan Boutin stood strong the rest of the way to preserve the second strait win for the Falcons making 23 saves.

--SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2007 AT Hartford Wolf Pack L - 2-1--

Looking for their third consecutive win, the Falcons traveled to Hartford. For the second time this week Doug O'Brien opened the scoring for the Falcons scoring on the power play. Rookie Ryan Callahan, continuing to serge, scored his 26th goal to even up the score at 1-1. A power play goal early in the third period from Ivan Baranka was enough for the Wolf Pack and Steve Valiquette to earn the win. Throughout the game, the Wolf Pack proceeded to throw shot after shot at Falcons goaltender Karri Ramo, who finished the night with 53 saves.

PLAYER/TEAM NOTES:

The Springfield Falcons won two of three games this past weekend taking four of a possible six points in the standings. The Falcons beat the Providence Bruins in a shootout on Friday, 3-2, followed by a 2-1 victory on Saturday against the Worcester Sharks. Springfield concluded their weekend with a 2-1 defeat against the Hartford Wolf Pack on Sunday. The Falcons are back at the .500 mark with a record of 22-22-0-1 on the season.

The Falcons improved their shootout record to 5-1 with their win on Friday in Providence, including a perfect 4-0 at home in the shootout. Including overtime, the Falcons are 6-1 in games decided in extra time this season.

The Falcons played three straight games decided by one goal or less this past weekend. Springfield is 13-5-0-1 in one-goal games this season, including 7-3-0-0 in games decided by one goal or less on home ice.

The Falcons goaltending tandem of Karri Ramo and Jonathan Boutin was very solid this past weekend. Ramo started two of the three games posting a record of 1-1 with a 1.92 goals against average and .953 save percentage. Ramo stopped 82 of the 86 shots he faced over the weekend. Ramo was the game's second star on Sunday in Hartford making 53 saves. Ramo's 53 saves is second only to Gerald Coleman and David LeNeveu who hold the team record with 54 saves in a game. Ramo stopped 29 of 31 shots, including four of five shooters in the shootout on Friday in Providence in a 3-2 win. Boutin was the game's first star on Saturday stopping 23 of 24 shots on goal in a 2-1 win over Worcester.

David Spina played in his 100th career AHL game on Saturday night against Worcester. Spina has recorded a point in eight of his last nine games.

Defenseman Doug O'Brien scored his fourth goal of the season on Sunday in Hartford and has two goals in his last three games played.

INJURIES

Justin Keller missed games due to injury.

ON THE FARM - JOHNSTOWN CHIEFS

The Chiefs lost two games this past weekend to fall to 1-5 in the month of January. The Dayton Bombers beat the Chiefs at home on January 19th 6-3. The Chiefs at one point held a 3-1 lead backed by two goals from Dmitri Tarabrin. The Bombers came back with five unanswered goals to beat the Chiefs. On January 21st Johnstown traveled to Toledo where they were shutout 3-0. Ken Magowan and Bruce Mulherin scored 24 seconds apart in the second period chasing Chiefs goalie Morgan Cey. Ryan Munce made his debut stopping 20 of 21 shots. On January 24th the Chiefs take on the Titans in Trenton.

OUT AND ABOUT IN THE COMMUNITY

Family Fun Nights at Friendly's Return: Friendly Ice Cream is proud to announce "Family Fun Nights at Friendly's" to benefit Springfield Falcons Charities, Inc. Falcons players and Screech meet and greet fans at area Friendly's Restaurants throughout the Pioneer Valley.

February 13 @ 65 Sumner Ave., Springfield

March 19 @ Southampton Rd., Westfield (at Mass Pike entrance)

WEEK IN REVIEW

JANUARY 19 Springfield - 3 at Providence Bruins - 2 (Goal Scorers - O'Brien, Healey) (SO)

JANUARY 20 Springfield -2 vs Worcester Sharks - 1 (Goal Scorers - Jones, Healey)

JANUARY 21 Springfield - 1 at Hartford Wolf Pack - 2 (Goal Scorers - O'Brien)

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

JANUARY 24 Springfield at Manchester Monarchs 7:05PM Verizon Wireless Arena

JANUARY 26 Springfield vs Lowell Devils 7:35PM MassMutual Center

JANUARY 27 Springfield vs Philadelphia Phantoms 7:05PM MassMutual Center

*Radio Broadcasts on The Zone 640 AM

*Watch Live on the B-2 Network

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American Hockey League Stories from January 23, 2007


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