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Falcons Weekly Notes

October 13, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


THIS WEEK'S GAME PREVIEWS

--FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2010 - SPRINGFIELD FALCONS AT PROVIDENCE BRUINS--

The Springfield Falcons will face the Providence Bruins for the third time in their first four games when they head back to Providence, Rhode Island on Friday night. The Falcons and Bruins split a pair of games last weekend with each team ruining their opponent's home opener.

The Falcons went into Providence on October 8 and scored four second period goals on their way to a 5-1 victory. The Bruins came right back the next night and held a 5-1 lead early in the second period at the MassMutual Center holding on for a 6-5 win.

Tom Sestito leads the Falcons in scoring against the Bruins with two goals and three assists for five points in two games. Michael Blunden has three goals in two games against Providence, while rookie defenseman David Savard has four assists in two games. Rookie Matt Calvert scored two goals in two games last weekend against the Bruins, while Chad Kolarik has two goals and one assist against Providence this year.

Maxime Sauve recorded a hat trick against the Falcons last Saturday, while Steven Kampfer is tied with Sauve in scoring against the Falcons this year with three points each. Kirk MacDonald tallied a pair of goals last weekend against Springfield.

After this weekend, the Falcons and Bruins will not meet again until December 11.

--SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2010 - SPRINGFIELD FALCONS AT PORTLAND PIRATES--

The Falcons continue their road trip through New England on Saturday as they head to Portland, Maine to take on the Pirates for the first time this year. Portland is a perfect 2-0 on the young season after beating the Manchester Monarchs last Saturday 6-5, followed by a 5-1 win over Charlotte on Monday on home ice. The Pirates continue a four-game home stand to open the 2010-11 regular season when they host the Falcons on Saturday.

Right wing Mark Mancari is off to a fast start for the Pirates with two goals and three assists for five points in two games. Rookie center Luke Adam has started his pro career in style with two goals and two assists for four points in two games. Left wing Colin Stuart has four assists in his first two games.

Goaltender Jhonas Enroth has won both games between the pipes for Portland posting a 3.00 goals against average and .915 save percentage.

Falcons assistant coach Brad Larsen returns to Portland this weekend. Larsen was captain of the Pirates last year and now will be behind the Falcons' bench against some of his former teammates.

The Pirates head to Springfield on October 22 for the first time this season.

--SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2010 - SPRINGFIELD FALCONS AT MANCHESTER MONARCHS--

The Falcons conclude their New England road trip in Manchester, New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon when they take on the Monarchs for the first time this year. Manchester is 1-1 on the young season heading into this weekend. Manchester split a pair of road games last weekend losing to Portland 6-5 on Saturday, but beating Bridgeport 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.

Left wing Dwight King led Manchester's offense last weekend with two goals and one assist in two games played. David Meckler matched King's offensive output with two goals and one assist as well, while right wing John Zeiler has three assists in two games.

Manchester goaltenders Erik Ersberg and Jeff Zatkoff split the duties last weekend with Ersberg stopping 27 of 28 shots in the win at Bridgeport and Zatkoff allowing five goals on 22 shots in the season opening loss to Portland.

Manchester heads to Springfield on October 23 for the first time this season.

LAST WEEK'S GAME RECAPS

---SPRINGFIELD AT PROVIDENCE, OCTOBER 8 - W- 5-1---

October 8, 2010 - The Springfield Falcons opened the 2010-11 regular season and their new affiliation with the Columbus Blue Jackets in style beating the Providence Bruins 5-1 at the Dunkin Donuts Center on Friday night. Chad Kolarik led the Falcons offense with two goals, while Jonathan Sigalet and David Savard each had two assists. Goaltender Dan Taylor earned the win in goal stopping 38 of 39 shots.

"This was a good win for our hockey club and we will need to try and do the same on Saturday," said head coach Rob Riley. "We had some timely goals in the second period and overall just had a really good team performance."

After a scoreless first period, the Falcons offense exploded in the second period and took control of the game. Michael Blunden scored a shorthanded goal just one minute into the middle period giving Springfield a 1-0 lead. The Falcons next scored two goals just 33-seconds apart as Kolarik scored on the power play, followed by Matt Calvert scoring his first pro goal giving the Falcons a 3-0 cushion. Kolarik added his second marker of the period with just one-second remaining in the stanza giving Springfield a 4-0 advantage through 40 minutes.

Providence's Kirk MacDonald pulled the Bruins to within 4-1 with a shorthanded goal at 5:46 of the third period, but Grant Clitsome scored the Falcons' second shorthanded goal of the night late in the third period giving Springfield a 5-1 win.

Despite no scoring in the first period, the game was spirited with a pair of first period altercations. Steven Goertzen and Nathan McIver dropped the gloves just three-minutes into the opening period, followed by Kyle Neuber and Lane MacDermid going toe-to-toe late in the first period.

Falcons Lineup

Tom Sestito - Ben Guite - Chad Kolarik

Maksim Mayorov - Trevor Frischmon - Michael Blunden

Matt Calvert - Tom Cavanagh - Tomas Kubalik

Steven Goertzen - Tyler Murovich - Kyle Neuber

Jonathan Sigalet - David Savard

John Moore - Nate Guenin

Grant Clitsome - Nick Holden

Dan Taylor

Daren Machesney

---SPRINGFIELD Vs. PROVIDENCE, OCTOBER 9 - L- 6-5---

October 9, 2010 - The Springfield Falcons and Providence met for the second time in as many days and on this night, it was Providence that skated skated away with two points. The Falcons battled back from deficits of 3-0 and 6-3 to pull within a single goal late in the third period, but ended up just short losing to the Bruins 6-5 in front of 6,344 at the MassMutual Center.

"We battled back and came close there at the end but just fell short," said Falcons head coach Rob Riley. "The guys were excited to play in front of the home fans and we kept fighting. We have the short turnaround for tomorrow's game, so we just have to come right back at it and be ready to go."

The Falcons went into Providence on Friday evening and built a big lead and Providence returned the favor on Saturday. Maxime Sauve opened the scoring just 2:52 into the first period giving the Bruins a 1-0 lead, followed by Steven Kampfer scoring his first goal of the year extending Providence's lead to 2-0 less than four minutes into the opening session. Providence built a 3-0 lead at 9:14 of the first period when Kirk MacDonald converted giving the Bruins a 3-0 cushion.

"It's tough falling into an early deficit, but we didn't give up and the coaches kept on us to keep going," said Falcons forward Tom Sestito. "With the new building and new affiliation for the guys, we were excited and we didn't get the result we wanted, but we still have a good group of guys and we kept battling."

The Falcons would cut their deficit to 3-1 late in the first period when Tom Sestito scored his first goal of the year, but Jordan Knackstedt regained the Bruins' three-goal lead when he scored just 13-seconds later giving Providence a 4-1 advantage.

Providence took a 5-1 lead just 44-seconds into the second period before Springfield would make a strong comeback. Sestito would score his second goal of the game at 5:26 of the middle frame on a beautiful stick-handling play down low, followed by Michael Blunden scoring on the power play at 10:11 of the second frame cutting Springfield's deficit to 5-3.

Providence extended their lead again to three goals at 12:03 of the third period when Sauve scored his third marker of the contest, but Matt Calvert and Blunden would both convert in the final four minutes of regulation cutting Springfield's deficit to 6-5.

Falcons Lineup

Tom Sestito - Ben Guite - Chad Kolarik

Maksim Mayorov - Trevor Frischmon - Michael Blunden

Matt Calvert - Tom Cavanagh - Tomas Kubalik

Steven Goertzen - Tyler Murovich - Kyle Neuber

Jonathan Sigalet - David Savard

John Moore - Nate Guenin

Grant Clitsome - Nick Holden

Dan Taylor

Daren Machesney

---SPRINGFIELD Vs. CHARLOTTE, OCTOBER 10 - L- 4-1---

October 10, 2010 - The Springfield Falcons concluded a very busy stretch of three games in three days on Sunday afternoon losing to the Charlotte Checkers 4-1 at the MassMutual Center. Maksim Mayorov scored his first goal of the season, while Michael Blunden added an assist. Springfield will now be off from game action until next Friday when they head to Providence.

"Three games in three nights, we tried to bring it, but it looked like it just wasn't there," said Falcons head coach Rob Riley. "We still believe we are going to be a good team this year, I still like our veteran leadership and they will help our young guys learn the pro game. It's early in the season and we will be ready for next weekend."

After a scoreless first period, the Falcons opened the scoring early in the second period when Mayorov tipped in a pass from Blunden with Charlotte goaltender Mike Murphy trapped behind his own net.

After Mayorov's marker, the remainder of the offense belonged to Charlotte as Jon Matsumoto tied the score with a power play goal at 5:50 of the middle period. The Checkers took their first lead of the afternoon when Jarome Samson scored his first goal of the year, followed by Jacob Micflikier's slap shot that found the back of the net giving Charlotte a 3-1 lead through 40 minutes of play.

Falcons Lineup

Tom Sestito - Ben Guite - Chad Kolarik

Maksim Mayorov - Trevor Frischmon - Michael Blunden

Mat Calvert - Tom Cavanagh - Tomas Kubalik

Tyler Murovich - Kyle Neuber

Nick Holden - David Savard

John Moore - Nate Guenin

Grant Clitsome - Cody Goloubef

Brent Regner

Dan Taylor

Daren Machesney

PLAYER NOTES:

Rookie defenseman David Savard collected two assists on Friday against Providence in his pro debut and added two more on Saturday giving him four assists in his first two pro games. Savard is tied for the AHL lead in

scoring among defensemen with four points.

Tom Sestito earned the game's first star on Saturday night collecting two goals and two assists. Sestito ended the weekend with two goals and three assists in three games.

Rookie forward Matt Calvert scored in his first two pro games collecting a marker on Friday and Saturday.

Michael Blunden scored the first goal of the year for Springfield and for the weekend, he collected three goals and one assist. Blunden was the only Falcons player to record at least a point in all three games.

The Falcons had five players make their pro debut this past weekend in John Moore, David Savard, Matt Calvert, Tomas Kubalik and Cody Goloubef.

TRANSACTIONS

10-11-10 - Springfield Falcons release Dan LaCosta from training camp tryout.

10-11-10 - Springfield Falcons release Daren Machesney from Professional Tryout Agreement.

10-11-10 - Columbus Blue Jackets reassign David LeNeveu to the Springfield Falcons.



American Hockey League Stories from October 13, 2010


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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