Falcons Weekly Notes
Published on October 25, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
WEEK IN REVIEW
OCTOBER 22 Springfield-6 Vs. Portland-2 ( Goal scorers - Murovich, Blunden, Mayorov, Kubalik, Sestito, Francis)
OCTOBER 23 Springfield-1 Vs. Manchester-3 ( Goal scorer - Kolarik)
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
OCTOBER 29 Springfield At Hartford 7:00 PM XL Center
OCTOBER 30 Springfield Vs. Hartford 7:00 PM MassMutual Center
*Radio Broadcasts on WHYN AM 560
*Watch AHL Live
THIS WEEK'S GAME PREVIEWS
--FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2010 - SPRINGFIELD FALCONS AT HARTFORD WOLF PACK--
--SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2010 - SPRINGFIELD FALCONS VS. HARTFORD WOLF PACK--
The Springfield Falcons and Hartford Wolf Pack meet for the first time this season when they get together for a home and home series this weekend. The Falcons and Wolf Pack are currently tied for third place in the Atlantic Division with eight points each through eight games played. Hartford has a record of 3-3-1-1 on the young season.
Hartford is currently winless in their last three games 0-2-1-0 as they enter a Wednesday night showdown with the Albany Devils before they meet Springfield this weekend.
Kris Newbury leads the Wolf Pack in scoring with eight assists and eight points in eight games played. Right wing Jeremy Williams is leading the Wolf Pack in goals with four and is second in scoring with six points, but he is currently on recall to the NY Rangers.
Defenseman Wade Redden leads all Hartford defensemen in scoring with one goal and five assists for six points in eight games.
Goaltender Chad Johnson has appeared in six of Hartford's eight games posting a record of 2-3-1 with a 2.48 goals against average and .906 save percentage.
LAST WEEK'S GAME RECAPS
---SPRINGFIELD VS. PORTLAND, OCTOBER 22 - W- 6-2---
October 22, 2010 - The Springfield Falcons scored six unanswered goals on their way to a thrilling 6-2 come-from-behind win over the Portland Pirates at the Massmutual Center on Friday night. The Falcons used points from 13 different skaters on Friday, including first career pro goals from Tomas Kubalik and Chris Francis. Goaltender David LeNeveu stopped 25 of 27 shots in his second win of the season.
"We collected some momentum late in the second period and it carried over into the third," said head coach Rob Riley, who saw his team move to 4-3 on the season. "I never expected the score to end up 6-2, I would have been happy with 3-2 knowing we were down 2-0, but it was a good win and we need to continue that Saturday."
The night didn't start out perfect for the Falcons as they fell behind 2-0 midway through the second period. Portland's Mark Parrish opened the scoring at 6:35 of the second period when he snapped a wrist shot past LeNeveu. Portland expanded their lead at 10:50 of the middle frame when Colin Stuart converted on a breakaway.
Trailing 2-0 late in the second frame, the Falcons used the power play to cut into their deficit when Michael Blunden redirected a pass from Chad Kolarik at 15:30 of the second period. The goal gave the Falcons some momentum heading into the third period.
In the final period, the Falcons scored five times and continued to apply pressure throughout the final 20 minutes. Kubalik evened the score at 2-2 at 5:20 of the third period, followed by Chris Francis putting Springfield on top for the first time in the game at 8:02 of the final stanza.
"I owe all the credit to my linemates, Matt Calvert and Ben Guite," said Francis. "They are both great players and easy to play with, both made a great play on the goal and it felt nice to get that first pro goal."
The outburst continued at 9:25 when Maksim Mayorov scored his first goal of the year, followed by Tom Sestito scoring his fourth marker of the year at 14:01 of the final period. Tyler Murovich ended the scoring with 20-seconds remaining in regulation giving the Falcons a 6-2 win.
FALCONS LINEUP
Tom Sestito - Michael Blunden - Chad Kolarik
Matt Calvert - Chris Francis - Ben Guite
Tomas Kana - Trevor Frischmon - Tomas Kubalik
Steven Goertzen - Tyler Murovich - Maksim Mayorov
John Moore - Cody Goloubef
Jonathan Sigalet - David Savard
Grant Clitsome - Theo Ruth
David LeNeveu
Dan Taylor
Not dressed: Michael Ratchuk, Tom Cavanagh, Kyle Neuber, Brent Regner, Steven Delisle, Gustaf Wesslau (Injured)
---SPRINGFIELD VS. MANCHESTER, OCTOBER 23 - L - 3-1---
October 23, 2010 - The Springfield Falcons once again battled back from a 2-0 deficit, but Saturday fell just short losing to the Manchester Monarchs 3-1 at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons now have a record of 4-4 through eight games as they will now be off from game action until Friday, October 29 when they travel to Hartford.
"We want to find a way to play a full 60 minutes, I know it's a cliche but that's something we have to do moving forward," said Falcons forward Chad Kolarik. "We battled back hard, but we can't keep falling behind, we have a good team here and we will keep working hard."
For the second straight night, the Falcons didn't quit after falling behind in the game and continued to try and find the equalizer. Manchester opened the scoring at 16:50 of the first period when Thomas Hickey scored his first goal of the year giving the Monarchs a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes of play.
With the Falcons on the power play early in the second period, Justin Azevedo picked up a lose puck at the Falcons blueline and skated in alone on David LeNeveu and slid a backhand past the Falcons goaltender just 36-seconds into the middle stanza giving Manchester a 2-0 lead.
Midway through the second period, the Falcons ended up on a power play when Manchester's John Zeiler was whistled for major penalty for checking from behind when he connected with Springfield defenseman Jonathan Sigalet. The Falcons did use the man advantage to cut into their deficit when Chad Kolarik converted on the man advantage at 13:24 of the middle period pulling the Falcons to within one goal heading into the third period.
In the final period, LeNeveu and Manchester goaltender Jeff Zatkoff exchanged saves as both goaltenders played very well on this evening.
"I thought both goalies played well," said Falcons head coach Rob Riley. "David (LeNeveu) gave us a chance to win and made some really nice saves to keep us at 2-0 for a while, Zatkoff was solid for them as well, we had some chances and he made the stops."
FALCONS LINEUP
Tom Sestito - Michael Blunden - Chad Kolarik
Matt Calvert - Chris Francis - Ben Guite
Tomas Kana - Trevor Frischmon - Tomas Kubalik
Maksim Mayorov - Tyler Murovich - Kyle Neuber
John Moore - Cody Goloubef
Jonathan Sigalet - David Savard
Grant Clitsome - Theo Ruth
David LeNeveu
Dan Taylor
Not dressed: Michael Ratchuk, Tom Cavanagh, Steven Goertzen, Brent Regner, Steven Delisle, Gustaf Wesslau (Injured)
PLAYER NOTES:
The Springfield Falcons split a pair of home games last weekend beating the Portland Pirates 6-2 on Friday, followed by a 3-1 loss on Saturday night against the Manchester Monarchs.
The Falcons had 13 of their 18 skaters register at least a point in their 6-2 win on Friday night over Portland. Tomas Kubalik and Chris Francis each scored their first pro goals, while Tyler Murovich, Tom Sestito, Michael Blunden and Maksim Mayorov also scored for the Falcons.
Chad Kolarik collected one goal and two assists in two games last weekend. He had a pair of assists on Friday against Portland and scored his third goal of the year on Saturday against Manchester.
Michael Blunden continued his strong play adding one goal and two assists in two games over the weekend. Blunden leads the Falcons in goals with five and is second on the club in scoring with eight points in eight games.
Tom Sestito recorded at least a point in both games this past weekend collecting one goal and one assist in two games. Sestito leads the Falcons in scoring with four goals and five assists in eight games.
Goaltender David LeNeveu started both games last weekend and he now leads the Falcons in minutes played (243) and goals against average (2.22).
TRANSACTIONS
10-19-10 - Columbus Blue Jackets recall Nick Holden from the Springfield Falcons.
10-24-10 - Springfield Falcons sign Michael Ryan to a Professional Tryout Agreement.
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