Falcons Weekly Notes

Published on December 6, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


THIS WEEK'S GAME PREVIEWS

--WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2010 ‚¬" SPRINGFIELD FALCONS AT BRIDGEPORT SOUND TIGERS--

The Springfield Falcons and Bridgeport Sound Tigers meet for the fourth time this season when they get together in Bridgeport, CT on Wednesday night. The Falcons are 2-0-0-1 against the Sound Tigers this year and these two teams just played each other this past Friday with Springfield winning that contest 5-3 at The Nest. The Falcons rallied from a two-goal deficit in that contest to skate away with the two points. Nick Tarnasky's third period goal was the eventual game-winner after Grant Clitsome, Theo Ruth and Matt Calvert all scored in the second period for the Falcons.

Springfield and Bridgeport remain very close in the Atlantic Division standings heading into this week. The Falcons currently have a two point lead on Bridgeport with Springfield and Connecticut remaining tied for fourth place. Bridgeport is an impressive 9-3-1-0 at home this year, while Springfield is 7-4-0-1 on the road.

The Sound Tigers continue to play some very good hockey as they have earned a point in six of their last seven games going 4-1-1-1 in that span.

Tomas Kubalik continues to lead the Falcons in scoring against the Sound Tigers with two goals and three assists for five points in three games played. Matt Calvert has scored four goals in three games against Bridgeport this year leading the team in goals against Bridgeport this year. Trevor Frischmon has four assists in three games against the Tigers in the season series.

Rhett Rakhshani leads Bridgeport in scoring against Springfield this season with one goal and five assists for six points in three games played. Micheal Haley has three assists in three games, while Robin Figren has two goals in three games against the Falcons this year.

--SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2010 ‚¬" SPRINGFIELD FALCONS VS. PROVIDENCE BRUINS--

--SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2010 ‚¬" SPRINGFIELD FALCONS AT PROVIDENCE BRUINS--

The Springfield Falcons and Providence Bruins begin a home and home series on Saturday night at the MassMutual Center. After playing each other three times in the season's first four games, the Falcons and Bruins haven't seen each other since October 15. Springfield is 2-1 against Providence this year with both wins occurring at the Dunkin Donuts Center. The Falcons beat the Bruins 5-1 on October 8, followed by a 2-1 victory on October 15 in Providence in a shootout. The Bruins spoiled the Falcons home opener on October 9 with a 6-5 victory.

It's been a streaky season for Providence of late as they lost four straight games leading up to their 2-1 win on Sunday at Manchester. Before the four-game losing streak, Providence had gone 4-0-1-0 in a five-game stretch from November 13-24.

Tom Sestito has been very impressive in the season series thus far collecting two goals and four assists for six points in three games played. Mike Blunden has four goals in three games against Providence this year, while defenseman David Savard has four assists in three games.

Maxime Sauve leads the Bruins team scoring in the season series with three goals and one assist for four points in three games. Kirk MacDonald has two goals in three games against the Falcons, while Steven Kampfer has one goal and two assists.

This home and home series is a very important stretch in the schedule for both teams. The Falcons have a three-point lead on Providence in the very competitive Atlantic Division standings. Springfield and Providence will meet in four of the next five games played heading down the stretch in December.

PLAYER/TEAM NOTES:

Grant Clitsome is on a three-game scoring streak having collected two goals and two assists in that span. Clitsome has three goals and seven assists for 10 points in 25 games this year and is now tied with John Moore for the team lead in scoring among defensemen.

Matt Calvert scored goals in back to back games this past weekend collecting his 10th goal on Friday against Bridgeport, followed by his 11th marker on Saturday in Manchester. Calvert leads the Falcons in scoring and goals recording 11-8-19 totals in 26 games.

Theo Ruth scored his first AHL/Pro goal on Friday night against Bridgeport.

Cody Goloubef has three assists in his last two games, including a two-assist effort on Sunday against Norfolk.

Jay Pandolfo collected two goals and one assist in three games this past weekend including the game-tying marker with 20 seconds remaining in regulation on Sunday afternoon.

The Falcons are 10-9-0-1 against the Atlantic Division teams this year. Springfield is 11-2-1-0 when allowing three goals or less in a game this year.

LAST WEEK'S GAME RECAPS

---SPRINGFIELD VS. BRIDGEPORT, DECEMBER 3 ‚¬" W - 5-3---

December 3, 2010 - The Springfield Falcons rallied from an early first period deficit and beat the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 5-3 in front of an energetic 3,326 at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons improved their record to 12-11-0-2 as they head to Manchester on Saturday.

Nick Tarnasky's third period goal just 1:55 into the third period snapped a 3-3 deadlock and gave the Falcons a well-deserved two points. Jay Pandolfo tallied his first goal as a Falcon on the power play midway through the final stanza adding insurance to a Falcons victory.

The Falcons used a strong second period erasing a 2-0 deficit with three straight goals. Grant Clitsome scored just 39-seconds into the second period cutting their deficit to 2-1, followed by Theo Ruth's first pro goal at 2:51 into the middle stanza evening the score at 2-2. The Falcons took their first lead of the night at 15:27 of the second period when Matt Calvert tallied his team-leading 10th marker of the year giving the Falcons a 3-2 advantage.

The night didn't start out perfect for the Falcons as they spent a good portion of the first period trying to defend Bridgeport power plays. Rhett Rakhshani scored at 6:27 of the opening period on a five-on-three, followed by Jeremy Colliton scoring also on a two-man advantage giving the Sound Tigers a 2-0 lead in the opening period.

The game featured some physical play as Tom Sestito dropped the gloves with Wes O'Neil in the first period, while Tarnasky went toe-to-toe with Micheal Haley in the second period.

GAME NOTES

Tom Sestito returned to the lineup after missing 10 games due to injury.

FALCONS LINEUP

Matt Calvert - Chris D'Alvise - Tomas Kubalik

Dane Byers - Trevor Frischmon - Nick Tarnasky

Jay Pandolfo - Mike Blunden - Tom Sestito

Maksim Mayorov - Tyler Murovich - Brent Regner

Grant Clitsome - Theo Ruth

David Savard - John Moore

Jonathan Sigalet - Nick Holden

David LeNeveu

Gustaf Wesslau

NOT DRESSED TONIGHT: Cody Goloubef, Ben Guite, Steven Goertzen, Tomas Kana, Kyle Neuber, Michael Ratchuk, Nate Guenin

---SPRINGFIELD AT MANCHESTER, DECEMBER 4 ‚¬" L - 7-2---

December 4, 2010 - The Springfield Falcons lost to the Manchester Monarchs 7-2 on Saturday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH. The Monarchs used a stretch of six unanswered goals on their way to their 16th win of the season. Springfield will now head home to host the Norfolk Admirals on Sunday at the MassMutual Center starting at 3 pm.

The Falcons came out strong in the first period and opened the scoring just 1:04 into the first stanza when Matt Calvert scored on the Falcons' first shot of the night, his team-leading 11th marker of the season. Following Calvert's goal, Manchester tied the score at 1-1 at 6:56 of the opening frame when Marc-Andre Cliche scored his fourth goal of the year.

In the second period, Manchester quickly took a 2-1 lead when Cliche scored his second marker of the game just 39-seconds into the middle frame. The Monarchs built a 3-1 lead at 14:07 of the second period when Andrei Loktionov scored his fourth goal of the year.

The Monarchs continued to build their lead into the third period as Oscar Moller tallied a shorthanded goal at 4:05, followed by Jordan Nolan and Brandon Kozun also scoring for the Monarchs in the final period. Grant Clitsome converted on the power play late in the third period for Springfield, his second straight game with a goal for the Falcons.

FALCONS LINEUP

Matt Calvert - Chris D'Alvise - Tomas Kubalik

Dane Byers - Trevor Frischmon - Nick Tarnasky

Jay Pandolfo - Mike Blunden - Tom Sestito

Michael Ratchuk - Tyler Murovich - Brent Regner

Grant Clitsome - Cody Goloubef

John Moore - Nate Guenin

Jonathan Sigalet - Nick Holden

Gustaf Wesslau

David LeNeveu

NOT DRESSED TONIGHT: Theo Ruth, Ben Guite, Steven Goertzen, Tomas Kana, Kyle Neuber, Maksim Mayorov, David Savard

---SPRINGFIELD VS. NORFOLK, DECEMBER 5 ‚¬" OTL - 3-2---

December 5, 2010 - Jay Pandolfo scored with 20-seconds remaining in regulation sending the contest to overtime and earned the Springfield Falcons a point as they dropped a 3-2 decision in overtime to the Norfolk Admirals on Sunday afternoon at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons finished the weekend with three of a possible six points going 1-1-1-0.

Sunday's contest was a very physical and entertaining game and with the Falcons and Admirals meeting for the second time in a week, there was some bad blood throughout the matinee. Mike Blunden opened the scoring for Springfield on the power play at 14:27 of the first period when he one-timed a Cody Goloubef pass to the back of the net for his 10th marker of the year. Late in the first period, Dane Byers and Vladimir Mihalik dropped the gloves earning fighting majors.

The rough stuff continued in the second period as Tom Sestito and Mike Angelidis picked up fighting majors, followed by Sestito and Mitch Fritz having some words after the altercation. Later in the second period, Norfolk tied the score at 1-1 when Mike Vernace scored his third goal of the year at 18:01 evening the score at 1-1.

In the third period, Norfolk took their first lead of the night at 11:35 when Alex Berry tipped in a Blair Jones wrist shot on the power play giving the Admirals a 2-1 lead. Norfolk would hold on to the lead into the game's final minute, but Pandolfo would convert with just 20 seconds remaining evening the score at 2-2 and sending the contest to overtime.

In the overtime, Norfolk was awarded a power play and Vernace scored his second goal of the game at 1:43 sending Norfolk home with a win and improving their record to 5-1 on their six-game road trip that concluded on Sunday.

FALCONS LINEUP

Matt Calvert - Chris D'Alvise - Tomas Kubalik

Dane Byers - Trevor Frischmon - Nick Tarnasky

Jay Pandolfo - Mike Blunden - Tom Sestito

Maksim Mayorov - Brent Regner

Grant Clitsome - Nate Guenin

John Moore - David Savard

Theo Ruth - Nick Holden

Cody Goloubef

David LeNeveu

Gustaf Wesslau

NOT DRESSED TONIGHT: Ben Guite, Steven Goertzen, Tomas Kana, Kyle Neuber, Tyler Murovich, Michael Ratchuk, Jonathan Sigalet

TRANSACTIONS

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American Hockey League Stories from December 6, 2010


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