Falcons Weekly Notes

Published on January 16, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


THIS WEEK'S GAME PREVIEWS

--FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2008 - SPRINGFIELD FALCONS VS. HARTFORD WOLF PACK--

The Springfield Falcons enter this upcoming match-up winless against the Hartford Wolf Pack this season with a 0-2-0-1 record thus far on the season series. Two of the three meetings in the season series have been one goal games. Hartford is currently on a three-game winning streak and they remain in third place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 24-12-0-4, eight points ahead of the Falcons. Hartford has one of the more impressive road records in the league at 14-4-0-2. The Wolf Pack offensive attack is led by Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, who has 37 points on the year, followed closely by Greg Moore and Nigel Dawes who each have 34 points, but are not presently with the Wolf Pack as they have been called up to the New York Rangers.

--SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2008 - SPRINGFIELD FALCONS AT HERSHEY BEARS-

This weekend marks the first game between Springfield and Hershey on the season. Hershey enters the game with a 22-15-0-2 record, good for 3rd in the East Division. The Bears have a 13-6-0-2 home record this year. Hershey is led in scoring by Joe Motzko with 27 points. Beyond Motzko, seven other Bears have 20 points or more on the season, including rookie Andrew Gordon's six goals and 14 assists for 20 points in 24 games. Rookie goaltender Daren Machesney is 2nd in the league with a 2.14 GAA and .929 save percentage while posting a record of 12-2-1.

LAST WEEK'S GAME RECAPS

---SPRINGFIELD at LOWELL, JANUARY 11, 2008 - W - 3-2 (SO) ---

January 11, 2008 - The Springfield Falcons beat the Lowell Devils 3-2 in a shootout on Friday night at the Paul Tsongas Arena in Lowell. The Falcons scored on all three shots in the shootout, while Falcons goaltender Jeff Deslauriers stopped all three Devils shooters. The game was deadlocked 1-1 heading into the third period before Lowell's Olli Malmivaara gave the Devils a 2-1 advantage with a power play goal at 16:17 of the final period. Less than a minute later, the Falcons rallied to tie the game at 2-2 when Jean-Francois Jacques tallied his 10th marker of the year at 17:02 of the third period.

"I thought we did a lot of good things all night and we played a pretty solid game." said Falcons head coach Kelly Buchberger. "We competed hard, battled back and found a way to get two points."

After sending the contest to the extra session, the Falcons took control of the shootout right away as Rob Schremp, Marc Pouliot and Liam Reddox all scored for Springfield, while Deslauriers closed the door on all three Lowell shooters.

After a scoreless first period, the two teams exchanged goals in the second period. Lowell's Trevor Kell opened the scoring at 7:52 of the middle frame with a power play goal, but Schremp would even the score at 1-1 with a power play marker of his own at 16:36 of the second period.

---SPRINGFIELD at BRIDGEPORT, JANUARY 12 - L- 4-2 ---

January 12, 2008 - The Springfield Falcons lost to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4-2 on Saturday night in Bridgeport, CT. The Falcons concluded their season series with the Sound Tigers at 0-2.

The Sound Tigers opened the scoring in the first period as forward Kip Brennan converted at 7:12 giving Bridgeport a 1-0 advantage through 20 minutes of play.

Bridgeport expanded their lead to 2-0 just 3:03 into the second period when Frans Nielsen scored his eighth goal of the season. The Sound Tigers would build a 4-0 advantage with a pair of goals just 32-seconds apart midway through the middle frame as rookie Kyle Okposo scored his first pro goal at 9:55, followed by Scott Ford at 10:27.

The Falcons rallied in the third period with a pair of goals from Liam Reddox and T.J. Kemp, but couldn't come all the way back on this evening.

---SPRINGFIELD at PROVIDENCE, JANUARY 13 - L - 3-1---

January 13, 2008 - The Springfield Falcons lost to the Providence Bruins 3-1 on Sunday afternoon in front of 7,694 at the Dunkin Donuts Center. The Falcons ended their weekend at 1-2 and they are now 2-3-1-0 against Providence this season.

The Falcons fell behind in this contest early when Alexandre Imbeault opened the scoring for Providence at 13:15 of the first period with a power play goal, followed by T.J. Trevelyan scoring 1:18 later giving the Bruins a 2-0 advantage through 20 minutes of play. The Falcons were outshot 17-1 in the first period with Springfield goaltender Jeff Deslauriers keeping his team in the game making 15 saves in the first period.

"He gives us a chance to win every night," said Falcons head coach Kelly Buchberger. "We wanted to generate more offensive chances in the first period, but we just didn't get it done."

In the second period, the Falcons kept battling away as Springfield's Tim Sestito scored a shorthanded marker at 16:27 cutting the Falcons deficit to 2-1 through 40 minutes of play. In the third period, Springfield had their opportunities on the power play, including a five-on-three advantage, but Providence goaltender Jordan Sigalet held the fort, including a pair of saves on Jean-Francois Jacques. Pascal Pelletier added an empty net goal for the Bruins in the final minute of regulation ending Springfield's comeback bid.

PLAYER NOTES:

Springfield Falcons goaltender Jeff Deslauriers stopped 58 of 62 shots he faced over the weekend for a save percentage of .935 in two games posting a record of 1-1. Deslauriers was also perfect in the shootout on Friday, January 11 against Lowell in Springfield's 3-2 shootout win over the Devils. Deslauriers remains second in the league in wins with 17.

Troy Bodie played in his 100th career pro game on January 12 at Bridgeport.

Ben Simon's next game will be his 400th career AHL game.

Bryan Young played in his 100th career pro game on January 12 at Bridgeport.

INJURY REPORT

Tyler Spurgeon, Sebastien Bisaillon, Jacob Micflikier, Allan Rourke, T.J. Reynolds, and Marc Pouliot all missed games due to injury this past week.

TRANSACTIONS

01/14/2008 Curtiss Patrick (D) Springfield DEL Released from PTO

01/13/2008 Curtiss Patrick (D) Springfield ADD Signed to PTO

ON THE FARM - STOCKTON THUNDER

The Thunder went 2-1 on a three-game road trip to Alaska last week, including a pair of overtime wins. Stockton announced in conjunction with the ECHL that right wing Ryan MacMurchy and left wing Andy Contois have been named to the National Conference roster for the 2008 Chase Chevrolet ECHL All-Star Game presented by Jackson Rancheria and Bud Light at Stockton Arena. MacMurchy and Contois, who will be making their first career all-star appearance, replace teammates Jacob Micflikier and Ryan O'Marra, who are both on recall to Springfield.

WEEK IN REVIEW

JANUARY 11 Springfield 3 at Lowell 2 (SO) (Schremp, Jacques)

JANUARY 12 Springfield 2 at Bridgeport 4 (Reddox, Kemp)

JANUARY 13 Springfield 1 at Providence 3 (Sestito)

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

JANUARY 18 Springfield vs. Harford 7:30 PM MassMutual Center

JANUARY 19 Springfield at Hershey 7:00 PM Giant Center

JANUARY 21 Springfield vs. Worcester 7:00 PM MassMutual Center

*Radio Broadcasts on WHYN AM 560

*Watch Live on the B-2 Network

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from January 16, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central