Falcons Weekly Notes

January 29, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


THIS WEEK'S GAME PREVIEWS

--FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2008 - SPRINGFIELD FALCONS AT HARTFORD WOLF PACK-

The Springfield Falcons and Hartford Wolf Pack will meet for the fifth time this season when they get together in Hartford on Friday night at the XL Center. The Falcons are 1-2-0-1 in the season series with Hartford winning the most recent match-up on January 18 by a score of 3-1. The Falcons currently trail the Wolf Pack by 13 points in the standings with Hartford holding on to third place in the Atlantic Division, while the Falcons remain in the fourth and final playoff spot in the division. Center Marc Pouliot leads the Falcons in scoring against the Wolf Pack this year with one goal and two assists for three points in three games. Rob Schremp has three assists in four games against Hartford this year. With Nigel Dawes currently on recall to the NHL's New York Rangers, Greg Moore is currently the Wolf Pack active leader in scoring against Springfield this season with one goal and three assists for four points in four games. Goaltender Al Montoya has appeared in three games against the Falcons this season posting a record of 1-1 with a 1.89 goals against average and .929 save percentage. The last time these two teams met in Hartford was back on December 1 when the Pack scored six unanswered goals on their way to a 6-2 win over the Falcons.

--SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2008 - SPRINGFIELD FALCONS AT LOWELL DEVILS-

The Falcons and Devils will meet for the eighth time this season when they meet on Saturday night. Springfield has won the last two head-to-head contests against Lowell with both games ending in a shootout. The Falcons are a perfect 4-0 on the road against Lowell this year and 6-1 in the overall season series. Jean-Francois Jacques leads Springfield in scoring against Lowell this season with six goals and five assists for 11 points in seven games. Marc Pouliot and Rob Schremp are next on the scoring list against the Devils with eight points each. Devils forward Noah Clarke leads his team in goals against the Falcons this season with three and is tied for the club lead in scoring against Springfield with teammate Petr Vrana with seven points each. Lowell goaltender Frank Doyle has been the workhorse for the Devils in goal against Springfield appearing in six games and posting a 2.79 goals against average and .897 save percentage. Falcons goaltender Jeff Deslauriers has a 1.94 goals against average and .937 save percentage in five appearances against Lowell this year, while teammate Devan Dubnyk has a 2.03 goals against average and .949 save percentage in two appearances against the Devils this year.

LAST WEEK'S GAME RECAPS

---SPRINGFIELD vs. WORCESTER, JANUARY 21, 2008 - OTL - 3-2---

January 21, 2008 - The Springfield Falcons saw the Worcester Sharks claw their way back from an early 2-0 deficit and send the game to overtime, where Worcester's Tom Cavanagh netted the game-winner giving the Sharks a 3-2 overtime win, while Springfield still skated away with one point in the standings. The Falcons held a 2-1 lead heading into the third period, but Sharks defenseman Derek Joslin tied the score at 2-2 with just 48-seconds remaining in regulation. The momentum changing play in this contest occurred in the second period when Sharks defenseman Patrick Traverse made a goal-saving block on Viacheslav Trukhno, followed by Riley Armstrong skating the length of the ice and firing a wrist shot past Jeff Deslauriers cutting the Sharks' deficit to 2-1 after two periods of play. The Falcons started the game strong and built a 2-0 lead when Ryan O'Marra opened the scoring at the 9:34 mark of the first period, followed by Ben Simon just 12-seconds later giving the Falcons their two-goal cushion after 20 minutes of play. Worcester goaltender Dimitri Patzold was pulled from the game after allowing two goals on the first six shots of the game, but fellow netminder Taylor Dakers was perfect in relief stopping all 19 shots he faced.

---SPRINGFIELD at PROVIDENCE, JANUARY 25 - SOL - 4-3---

January 25, 2008 - The Springfield Falcons earned a point on the road on Friday night losing to the Providence Bruins 4-3 in a shootout at the Dunkin Donuts Center. The Falcons have now earned a point in their last two games and will host the Worcester Sharks on Saturday at the MassMutual Center. The Bruins scored on three of their four shots in the shootout, while the Falcons went 1-4 in the extra session.

Despite a scoreless third period, the two teams played a wild second period that featured five goals. The Falcons erased a one-goal deficit with three unanswered markers, before Providence responded with a pair of goals of their own closing out the second frame. Springfield's Ryan O'Marra tied the score at 1-1 just 1:20 into the middle session, followed by Marc Pouliot giving the Falcons a 2-1 lead just one minute after O'Marra's marker. Springfield took a 3-1 lead at the 8:23 mark of the second period when Liam Reddox converted, but the Bruins answered with two goals from Wacey Rabbit evening the score at 3-3 through 40 minutes of play.

Bruins defenseman Kevin Schaeffer opened the scoring at the 5:47 mark of the first period giving Providence a 1-0 lead. The Falcons successfully defended three Providence power plays in the first period with the Bruins holding a 13-5 shots advantage through 20 minutes of play.

---SPRINGFIELD vs. WORCESTER, JANUARY 26 - SOL - 5-4 ---

January 26, 2008 - The Springfield Falcons lost in a shootout to the Worcester Sharks 5-4 on Saturday night in front of 6,504 at the MassMutual Center. Stephen Werner opened the scoring for the Falcons at the 7:09 mark of the opening period on the power play, but Worcester's Devin Setoguchi tied the score at 1-1 just 40-seconds later.

In the second period, Rob Schremp gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead at the 13:16 mark of the middle period on a beautiful setup from defenseman Danny Syvret. Just 28-seconds after Schremp's marker, Tim Sestito scored his fifth goal of the year giving Springfield a 3-1 lead. Worcester cut their deficit to 3-2 when Lukas Kaspar scored a shorthanded marker at 15:11 of the second period.

The Falcons carried a one-goal lead into the third period, but Worcester's Patrick Traverse tied the game at 3-3 with his sixth goal of the year at 6:53 of the final frame. Springfield regained their lead with just 1:20 remaining in regulation when Werner redirected Allan Rourke's slapshot for his second marker of the game, but Setoguchi scored his second goal of the contest 23-seconds after the Falcons took the lead sending the game into overtime.

After a scoreless overtime, Graham Mink scored on the fifth and final shot of the shootout to earn the Sharks the win. Sharks goaltender Thomas Greiss stopped all five Springfield shooters in the extra session. The Falcons have earned at least a point in three straight games and they will now be off until Thursday due to the AHL's All-Star Break.

PLAYER NOTES:

Forward Ryan O'Marra has collected at least a point in four of his last five games, including three straight games with a point heading into the All-Star Break. O'Marra has two goals and two assists in his last five games.

Defenseman Danny Syvret returned to the lineup on January 25 after missing 14 games between the Spengler Cup and being sick and the blueliner has three assists in his two games back in the lineup.

Forward Stephen Werner made his Falcons debut on January 25 at Providence, followed by scoring his first two goals in a Falcons uniform on January 26 against Worcester. Werner was loaned to the Falcons by the Washington Capitals on January 24.

Center Tim Sestito has three goals in his last five games.

The Falcons finished January at 4-4-1-2 and will head into February with eight home games. In fact, Springfield's longest travel in February will be a 90-minute bus ride to Lowell on February 2. With two road games in Worcester and one in Lowell, the Falcons will only leave the state of Massachusetts twice in February, a pair of games in Hartford.

The Falcons three power play goals in their last game matched their season high for power play markers in a game, accomplished now three times.

INJURY REPORT

Sebastien Bisaillon , Tyler Spurgeon, Jacob Micflikier, T.J. Reynolds, Rick Berry, Mathieu Roy, Jean-Francois Jacques all missed games due to injury.

TRANSACTIONS

January 24, 2008 - Springfield Falcons recall Brad Farynuk from the Stockton Thunder.

January 24, 2008 - Springfield Falcons loan Ryan Flinn to the Hershey Bears.

January 24, 2008 - Washington Capitals loan Stephen Werner to the Springfield Falcons.

ON THE FARM - STOCKTON THUNDER

The Stockton Thunder return for three games this week as they head to Idaho for a pair of games on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by returning home on the weekend for two games against the Bakersfield Condors. Stockton currently has a record of 18-20-1-1 and remain in third place in the Pacific Division.

WEEK IN REVIEW

JANUARY 21 Springfield 2 vs. Worcester 3 (OTL) (R. O'Marra, B. Simon)

JANUARY 25 Springfield-3 at Providence-4 (SOL) (O'Marra, Pouliot, Reddox)

JANUARY 26 Springfield-4 vs. Worcester-5 (SOL) (Werner (2), Schremp, Sestito)

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

FEBRUARY 1 Springfield at Hartford 7:00 PM XL Center

FEBRUARY 2 Springfield at Lowell 7:05 PM Paul Tsongas Arena

*Radio Broadcasts on WHYN AM 560

*Watch Live on the B-2 Network



American Hockey League Stories from January 29, 2008


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