Falcons Weekly Review

Published on December 17, 2002 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release


THIS WEEK'S GAME CAPSULES

---WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2002 AT ALBANY RIVER RATS---

The Springfield Falcons and Albany River Rats will meet for the third time this season when they face off on Wednesday at the Pepsi Arena. The Falcons are 1-1 against the River Rats this season. Albany won the last meeting by a score of 4-0 at the Springfield Civic Center. The Falcons won the first meeting of the year 2-1 in Albany. Albany is currently in fifth place in the East Division with a 10-13-4-3 record for 27 points. Albany lost their last game 2-1 in overtime against the Saint John Flames. Craig Darby leads the team in scoring with five goals and 16 assists for 21 points. Ray Giroux is second on the team in scoring with six goals and 14 assists for 20 points and 5th in the AHL in scoring among defensemen. Dave Roche leads the team in goals scored with seven and is tied for the team lead in power play goals with four. Joe Hulbig also has four power play goals. Scott Cameron scored on a penalty shot on 12/6/02 against the Manchester Monarchs. Jason Lehoux leads the team in penalty minutes with 80. Scott Clemmensen is 5-9-3 with a 2.42 GAA and a .910 save percentage. Ari Ahonen has a 5-7-1 record with a 2.52 GAA and a .916 save percentage. Albany has the 22nd ranked power play in the AHL scoring on 14.1 percent of their power play opportunities. Albany is ranked 21st in the AHL in penalty killing, killing 82.1 percent of their shorthanded situations. Albany won the last game between these two teams 4-0 in Springfield. Chris Hartsburg scored his first two pro goals in the Albany win, one shorthanded and one on the power play. Mikko Jokela and Max Birbraer also added goals for the River Rats. Scott Clemmensen made 23 saves in recording the win. Springfield won the first meeting of the season 2-1 in Albany. Ray Giroux scored a power play goal to give Albany a 1-0 lead after the first period. Shane Willis would tie the game in the second period and Dmitry Afanasenkov scored the game winner for the Falcons in the third period. Evgeny Konstantinov made 27 saves in recording the win.

---FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2002 VS. BINGHAMTON SENATORS---

The Springfield Falcons will meet the Binghamton Senators for the second time this season when they face off on Friday night at the Springfield Civic Center. The Falcons won the only meeting between these two teams 3-0 in Springfield on November 30th. Binghamton is currently in fourth place in the East Division with a 12-10-3-1 record for 28 points. Binghamton tied their last game against Rochester 5-5. Brian Pothier leads the team in scoring with three goals and 14 assists for 17 points. David Hymovitz leads the team in goals scored with nine and is tied for the AHL lead in shorthanded goals with four. Rookie Antoine Vermette is second on the team in goals scored with eight. Josef Boumedienne leads the team in penalty minutes with 62. Brian McGratten is second on the team in penalty minutes with 61. Jason Spezza, who was the 2nd pick overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators, has three goals and six assists for nine points in eight games with Binghamton. Ray Emery is ranked seventh among AHL goaltenders with a 9-8-2 record, a 2.22 GAA and a 9.24 save percentage. Simon Lajeunesse has a record of 2-1 with a 3.34 GAA and a .878 save percentage. Binghamton has the 27th ranked power play in the AHL, scoring on 10.7 percent of their power play opportunities. Binghamton is eighth in the AHL in penalty killing, killing 85.2 percent of their shorthanded situations. The Falcons won the only meeting of the season 3-0 at "The Nest." Boyd Kane, Peter Fabus and Shane Willis scored for the Falcons while Evgeny Konstantinov made 21 saves in recording his first pro shutout. Ray Emery made 23 saves for the River Rats.

---SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2002 AT SYRACUSE CRUNCH---

The Springfield Falcons will meet the Syracuse Crunch for the second time this season when they face off on Saturday night at the War Memorial at Oncenter. The Falcons are 1-0 against the Crunch this season winning the first meeting 6-3 in Springfield on December 6th. Syracuse is currently in fifth place in the Central Division with an 11-14-1 record for 23 points. Syracuse is 0-2 in their last two games. David Ling leads the team in scoring and is tied for 12th in the AHL in scoring with four goals and 24 assists for 28 points. Ling's 24 assists are tied for second most in the AHL. Mathieu Darche is second on the team in scoring with 12 goals and eight assists for 20 points. Darche's 12 goals and six power play goals are both good for the team lead. Andrej Nedorost is 2nd on the team in goals scored with eight. Ling also leads the team in penalty minutes with 89. Trent Cull is second in penalty minutes with 80. Karl Goehring is ranked eighth among AHL goaltenders with a 6-5 record, a 2.24 GAA and a .919 save percentage. Goehring also leads the AHL in shutouts with four. Pascal Leclaire has a 4-9-1 record with a 3.95 GAA and a .884 save percentage. Syracuse has the 23rd ranked power play in the AHL, scoring on 13.5 percent of their power play opportunities. Syracuse is seventh in the AHL in penalty killing, killing 85.3 percent of their shorthanded situations. The Falcons won the only meeting this season in Springfield 6-3. Jeff Taffe scored the first two goals of the game, both on the power play and Ramzi Abid scored an even strength goal to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead before the Crunch could get on the board with a goal from Kent McDonell. Taffe would score his third goal just 34 seconds later in recording his first pro hat trick. Darche would open the scoring in the third period for the Crunch to cut the Falcons lead to 4-2. Michael Schutte made it a 5-2 game, but Blake Bellefeuille would cut the Falcons lead to 5-3. Martin Cibak would add an empty net goal with just two seconds remaining in the game to give the Falcons the 6-3 win. Evgeny Konstantinov made 23 saves in recording the win. Pascal Leclaire made 26 saves for the Crunch.

PLAYER/TEAM NOTABLES:

Jeff Taffe now leads the Falcons and is fourth among AHL rookies in scoring with 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points.

Jeff Taffe leads the team in game winning goals with three.

Ramzi Abid leads the AHL in power play goals with nine.

Frank Banham has a six-game point scoring streak in which he has four goals and five assists

Jeff Taffe has a five-game point scoring streak in which he has five goals and four assists.

Rob Murray scored his first goal of the season on 12/14/02 at Lowell.

Evgeny Konstantinov is 4-1-1 in his last six starts.

Zac Bierk won his first game after coming off the injured list 4-3 against the Saint John Flames on 12/15/02.

The Falcons tied a franchise record on 12/14/02 when they allowed five power play goals in one game.

The Falcons are 10-6 at home and have won eight of their last nine games played at "The Nest."

TRANSACTIONS:

12-13-02 – Tampa Bay Lightning assign Brian Holzinger to Springfield on a conditioning assignment.

12-14-02 – Phoenix Coyotes recall Ramzi Abid from Springfield.

12-15-02 – Tampa Bay Lightning reassign Darren Rumble to Springfield.

12-16-02 – Phoenix Coyotes recall goaltender Zac Bierk from Springfield and reassign goaltender Patrick DesRochers to Springfield.

12-16-02 – Springfield Falcons reassign goaltender Colin Zulianello to Augusta of the ECHL.

NEXT THREE HOME GAMES:

Friday December 20 vs. Binghamton 7:35 PM

Friday December 27 vs. Binghamton 7:35 PM

Saturday December 28 vs. Worcester 7:35 PM

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from December 17, 2002


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.

OurSports Central