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Falcons Weekly Notes

November 3, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


This Week's Games Previews

-Friday, November 6, 2009- Springfield Falcons (5-5-2-1) vs. Bridgeport Sound Tigers (7-6-0-0):

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers and Springfield Falcons will face off on Friday for the first of ten meetings between the two teams. This is the first year Bridgeport is back in the Atlantic Division, spending the past six seasons in the East Division. In the second year of existence for Bridgeport (2002-2003), the Sound Tigers and Falcons saw more of one another as they were both members of the same division. Last season, Bridgeport took the season series winning three of the four match ups between the teams, including a shootout win in Springfield. The lone Falcons win also came in a shootout victory in Springfield. It has been a rollercoaster season so far for the third place Sound Tigers. They started out the year winning their first four games, only by following that with four straight losses. Since then Bridgeport has won three of their last five games coming into Friday night's game. However, the Sound Tigers lost two of three games this past weekend, losing to Worcester and Providence, while defeating Portland with all three games being on the road. Leading Bridgeport this season has been center Greg Moore and left wing Trevor Smith each tallying five goals and four assists to lead the team with nine points each. The team leader in assists this season has been Andrew MacDonald with six assists in 13 games played. Bridgeport has had stellar goaltending play behind three different goalies. Nathan Lawson, Scott Munroe, and Mikko Koskinen have combined to post a 2.29 GAA and.925 save percentage while racking up 371 saves. Munroe has played the most games and minutes, but Lawson has posted the best numbers thus far with a 1.81 GAA and.944 save percentage in five games played. Munroe has played in six games recording a 2.63 GAA and.915 save percentage. Koskinen has a 2.45 GAA and.902 save percentage in two games. Before Friday night's game in Springfield, the Sound Tigers will host the Adirondack Phantoms on Wednesday, November 4. Following the Falcons game, Bridgeport will play two home games against Hartford on Saturday and Lowell on Sunday.

-Sunday, November 8, 2009- Springfield Falcons (5-5-2-1) at Portland Pirates (4-8-0-0):

The Falcons will travel to Portland, Maine to take on the Pirates on Sunday afternoon. This will be first meeting between the two teams since the Falcons Opening Night 5-2 win on October 3. The teams will face each other six more times after this meeting. In the first match up between the teams, the Falcons controlled the game from start to finish behind Liam Reddox (1 G, 1 A), Chris Minard (1 G, 1 A) and goalie Devan Dubnyk (31 saves on 33 shots). Leading the Pirates in the game was Marc-Andre Gragnani with two goals. Last season Portland went 6-2-1-1 against Springfield, with only one loss in five games at home. The Pirates have struggled this year going 4-8-0-0 so far this year. However, Portland has played better at home going 3-1-0-0, including a home win this past weekend over Lowell. Leading the Pirates skaters this season have been Mark Mancari (3 G, 8 A, 11 P), Rookie Tyler Ennis (6 G, 4 A, 10 P), and Nathan Gerbe (3 G, 7 A, 10 P). Ennis leads all AHL rookies with six goals. Portland goaltending is led by starter Jhonas Enroth and backup Jean-Philippe Lamoureux. Enroth has posted a 3.90 GAA and.872 save percentage in ten games played. Lamoureux has played in four games making 74 saves with a.871 save percentage and 3.94 GAA. Prior to Sunday's game, the Pirates will host the defending AHL champion and East Division leading Hershey Bears on Friday night.

Last Week's Game Recaps

Springfield at Albany, Oct. 30- SO, 4-3:

The Springfield Falcons beat the Albany River Rats 4-3 in a shootout on Friday night at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY. The Falcons have won two straight games and overall the Falcons have earned a point in four straight games going 2-0-1-1 in that span.

After a scoreless first period, the Falcons and River Rats each scored a pair of markers in the middle frame. The Falcons opened the scoring at 4:07 of the second period when Chris Minard scored his team-leading eighth goal of the year. Just 90-seconds later, Slava Trukhno gave the Falcons a 2-0 advantage when he scored on a penalty shot for Springfield.

With the Falcons in control of the game, Albany cut their deficit to 2-1 when Matthew Pistilli scored at 6:22 of the second period, followed by Zach Boychuk evening the score at 2-2 at 16:18 of the middle stanza.

In the third period, the Falcons regained their one-goal lead at 9:37 when Minard scored his second goal of the contest, this time on the power play giving Springfield a 3-2 lead. Late in the final frame, the Falcons were able to kill off a five-on-three disadvantage with Geoff Paukovich and Colin McDonald in the penalty box and maintain their one-goal advantage. At 13:43 of the third period, Pistilli tallied his second marker of the contest sending the contest to overtime.

After a scoreless overtime period, Minard and Ryan Potulny converted in the shootout while goaltender Devan Dubnyk stopped all four shooters he faced leading Springfield to their fifth victory on the campaign.

Springfield vs. Lowell, Oct. 31- OTL, 3-2:

In a special Halloween Matinee afternoon game, the Falcons were unable to give the fans a treat, as they fell to the Lowell Devils 3-2 in overtime. However, the Falcons did earn a point for the fifth straight game (2-0-2-1).

The first period started out slow, but the excitement picked up about halfway through when Springfield struck first on Charles Linglet's fourth goal of the season at the 11:02 mark. Setting up Linglet with a nice pass was Colton Fretter earning his third assist of the year. The Devils were able to answer back quickly on a power play goal 28 seconds later by Matt Taormina to even the score at one goal apiece. Despite being outshot 18-6 in the first, Springfield was able to end the period in a 1-1 tie.

At the 13:45 mark in the second period, Lowell's Nick Palmieri was able to give the Devils a 2-1 lead as he found the back of the net.

Springfield started out slow in the third period, unable to convert on a 5-on-3 power play. The Falcons did not quit though, as Ryan Potulny connected on a slap shot to tie the game up at two with 13 minutes left in the game. Both teams were able to withstand the opponent's offense attack to send the game to overtime for the second time this season between these two teams.

In the five minute overtime, the Falcons were outshot 3-0 and the third shot by the Devils found the back of the net behind a slap shot by former Springfield Falcons Captain and now Lowell Devils forward Tim Sestito to give Lowell the two points and the win.

Leading the Falcons with two points in the game was Charles Linglet (1 G, 1 A). Springfield was outshot in every stanza in the game, except for the third, and Springfield was outshot overall 41-23 by the visiting Devils.

Springfield at Worcester, Nov. 1- L, 4-1:

The Springfield Falcons lost to the Worcester Sharks 4-1 on Sunday afternoon at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA. The Sharks scored two shorthanded goals and one on the power play on their way to beating the Falcons for the second time this season. Sunday's contest was an intense battle with the two teams combining for 146 penalty minutes.

The afternoon seemed to start out well for the Falcons as they ended up on a four-minute power play early in the opening period when Charles Linglet took a high stick from Worcester's Michael Wilson, but it was the Sharks that were able to convert during the power play as Andrew Desjardins scored a shorthanded marker just 37-seconds into the first period.

Worcester built a 2-0 advantage late in the opening frame as Matt Jones converted on the power play with just 47-seconds remaining in the opening session.

The physical play was constant in the opening period as Springfield's Kip Brennan and Worcester's Frazer McLaren each picked up fighting majors and 10-minute misconducts for their altercation midway through the opening 20-minutes.

In the second period, the Falcons battled back and cut their deficit to 2-1 when Linglet tallied a shorthanded marker, but Worcester's Steven Zalewski scored the Sharks' second shorthanded goal of the contest at 8:05 of the middle frame giving Worcester a 3-1 lead.

Player and Team Notes

Leading the Falcons in points and assists is forward Charles Linglet (16 P, 5 G, 11 A). Linglet is currently tied for second in total points and tied for first in assists in the entire AHL.

Leading the Falcons and the American Hockey League in goals scored this season is Chris Minard with nine goals in 11 games, including two this weekend.

Linglet and Minard lead the team in plus/minus at +7 and +6 each.

Chris Minard is tied for second in the AHL in power play goals this season with six.

Chris Minard leads active Falcons players with a.231 shooting percentage on 39 total shots on goal in 11 games this season.

Charles Linglet is tied for second in the American Hockey League in power play assists with five assists so far this season.

Falcons Kip Brennan is tied for third in the AHL in PIM with 75 in 13 games, and tied for second in major penalties with seven this season.

Brennan had a team season high in PIM on Sunday in Worcester piling up 34 minutes in the box.

Goalie Devan Dubnyk leads the AHL in minutes played this season tallying 655 minutes.

Dubnyk also leads the AHL in saves making 375 stops in 11 games played.

Devan Dubnyk has posted a 3.02 GAA and a.919 save percentage to lead all Springfield goaltenders.

Scoring his first goal of the season Friday night in Albany on a penalty shot was Slava Trukhno. This was the first penalty shot of the year for the Falcons.

The Falcons are 6th in the AHL in power play percentage posting a 20.3% success rate.

Springfield has registered at least one point in all five of their home games (3-0-1-1).

Injury Report

Chris Minard missed two games this past weekend due to injury.



American Hockey League Stories from November 3, 2009


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.

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