Game Notes vs. Portland
October 12, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
SETUP: The Springfield Falcons and Portland Pirates will meet for the 69th time in franchise history tonight at "The Nest." The Falcons have an all-time record of 38-22-6-2 against Portland, including a 3-1-0 record against the Pirates in the 2001-02 season. Springfield and the Pirates will get together four times this season, two home and two away. After tonight, these two Eastern Conference rivals will not play each other until Sunday, November 17th when the Falcons visit the Cumberland County Civic Center for the first time this season. Portland will make their 2nd and final visit to Springfield this season on Friday, January 31st. The Falcons last trip into Portland this year is Sunday, March 2nd.
The Springfield Falcons had their season/home opener last night hosting the Hartford Wolf Pack. Hartford beat the Falcons, 4-2, led by two Rico Fata goals. The Falcons jumped on the board first when Yves Sarault scored just 33-seconds into the second period on a nice feed from Ramzi Abid to give Springfield a 1-0 lead. Hartford answered back with two goals of their own to take a 2-1 lead. Roman Lyashenko tied the game at one apiece at 8:18 of the middle period and Ken Gernander scored on a shorthanded breakaway at 15:08. Abid tied the score at
2-2 just over a minute later, but Fata scored his first of two goals at 18:40 to give Hartford the lead for good. Darren Rumble collected two assists for Springfield, while Abid finished the night with one goal and one assist and was the game's second star. Evgeny Konstantinov made 25 saves in goal for the Falcons. Springfield will play three games in three days for the first time this season next weekend. They will play their first road game on Friday, October 18th in Providence, followed by home games against Bridgeport on Saturday, October 19th and Providence on Sunday, October 20th.
Portland heads into Springfield having also lost their home opener, 4-2 to the Norfolk Admirals. Norfolk scored three third period goals on their way to victory. The Pirates scored first when Chris Ferraro netted his 1st of the season on the power play just 4:52 into the opening period. Portland had a 2-1 lead just 5:47 into the third period, before Norfolk scored three goals in a little less than nine minutes to take the 4-2 win. Peter Ferraro added two assists and earned the game's third star. Rastislav Stana started in goal for Portland last night making 20 saves. Mel Angelstad also scored for Portland last night. Including tonight, Portland will play their next three games on the road. They will travel to Manchester on Friday, October 18th, and Worcester next Saturday, October 19th. The Pirates will return home on Sunday, October 20th when they host Manitoba.
FIRST PRO POINT: Falcons rookie center, Jeff Taffe made his pro debut, and collected his first pro point last night when he assisted on Abid's second period goal. Taffe enters his rookie season after playing his college hockey with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers helping them to the NCAA Division I National Championship last season.
TWO-ASSIST EFFORT: Falcons defenseman Darren Rumble collected two assists last night in his Falcons debut. Rumble was assigned to the Falcons last week by the Tampa Bay Lightning after signing with Tampa Bay as a free agent on September 11, 2002. Rumble spent the previous two seasons with the St. Louis Blues organization.
FORMER FALCON RETURNS: Former Falcons defenseman Jason Doig returns tonight as a member of the Pirates. Doig signed with the Washington Capitals as a free agent on September 5, 2002 after spending last season with current Washington Capitals' head coach Bruce Cassidy and the Grand Rapids Griffins. Doig played in 88 career games with the Falcons from 1995-1999 collecting five goals and 33 assists for 38 points.
BETWEEN THE PIPES: Portland goaltender, Maxime Ouellet, enters his first full season with the Washington Capitals organization. Ouellet was dealt to the Capitals along with three draft picks from Philadelphia in exchange for Adam Oates on March 19, 2002. Ouellet was originally Philadelphia's 1st choice in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.
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American Hockey League Stories from October 12, 2002
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- Phantoms win home opener 1-0 over Rochester - Adirondack Phantoms
- Mighty Ducks Launch Redesigned Website - Cincinnati RailRaiders
- Game Notes vs. Portland - Springfield Falcons
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