IceCaps Split First Road Trip of Season

October 15, 2012 - American Hockey League (AHL)
St. John's IceCaps News Release


The IceCaps kicked off their 2012-13 season with a pair of games in New England on the weekend. After dropping a 4-2 decision to the Springfield Falcons Saturday night in the club's opening game, the team bounced back with a come-from- behind 3-2 victory Sunday afternoon versus the Connecticut Whale at the XL Center in Hartford. The IceCaps return to Mile One Centre for their home opener this Friday against the Adirondack Phantoms in the first game of a two-game series and the start of a six-game home stand.

WEEK IN REVIEW:

Saturday, October 13 - Springfield Falcons 4 St John's IceCaps 2 MassMutual Center - Springfield, MA

St John's Goals Klingberg (1), Tremblay (1)

Springfield Goals: Craig (1), Calvert (1), Smith (1), Kubalik (1)

Goaltending: STJ -Pasquale (L - 33 shots, 29 saves) / SPR -McElhinney (W - 25 shots, 23 saves)

Power Play: STJ 1/7 | SPR 2/6

Three Stars: 1) SPR - Tomas Kubalik 2) SPR - Matt Calvert 3) SPR - Tim Erixon

Mary Brown's HWP Spencer Machacek

Attendance: 6,151

Matt Calvert and Tomas Kubalik each had a goal and an assist and Curtis McElhinney stopped 23-of-25 shots to lead the Springfield Falcons past the St. John's IceCaps 4-2 in the first game of the 2012-13 season for both teams Saturday night at the MassMutual Center.

Defenceman Tim Erixon, the game's first star, had a pair of assists for Springfield while rookie Dalton Smith scored his first career goal as the game-winner.

Eddie Pasquale stopped 29 shots in keeping the IceCaps in the game as the team looked flat for much of the game's first two periods. Carl Klingberg and Hunter Tremblay scored for St. John's in the loss.

Saturday, October 14 - St John's IceCaps 3 Connecticut Whale 2 XL Center - Hartford, CT

St John's Goals Macenauer (1), Redmond (1), Machacek (1)

Connecticut Goals: Newbury (3), Jean (2)

Goaltending: STJ -Dekanich (W - 37 shots, 35 saves) / CT -Stajcer (25 shots, 22 saves)

Power Play: STJ 2/5 | CT 2/5

Three Stars: 1) STJ - Spencer Machacek 2) STJ - Hunter Tremblay 3) CT - Kyle Jean

Mary Brown's HWP Mark Dekanich

Attendance: 2,081

Spencer Machacek scored the game-winning goal at 7:55 of the third period to give the St. John's IceCaps a 3-2 victory over the Connecticut Whale Sunday afternoon at the XL Center.

On his 24th birthday, Machacek banged home a rebound off his own shot on a St. John's power play to give his team a lead they would not relinquish, and propel the IceCaps to the team's first victory of 2012-13. Mark Dekanich was sensational in his IceCaps debut, making 35 saves for his first victory. Alex Burmistrov and Hunter Tremblay had a pair of assists each, while Zach Redmond and Max Macenauer also scored for St. John's. Whale goaltender Scott Stajcer stopped 22-of-25 shots in getting tagged with the loss in his pro debut.

ICE-CAPSules

Changing digits: Two IceCap players are sporting different jersey numbers than they wore last season. Aaron Gagnon switches from 25 to 11 while Jason Gregoire goes from 50 to 17.

Rookies earn their time: IceCap rookies Ivan Telegin, Julian Melchiori, Ben Chiarot and Will O'Neill all suited up for both games on opening weekend. Telegin recorded his first professional point when he assisted on Max Macenauer's first period tally against the Connecticut Whale Sunday afternoon.

Injury notes: Several IceCaps are nursing injuries through the first week of the season. Jason Jaffray, Paul Postma, John Albert, Ryan Schnell, Ray Sawada, and Ray Kaunisto did not travel with the team. Jaffray, who has been sidelined since last March with a neck injury, will attempt to be ready for the home opener this Friday, as will the others.

Machacek rolling: Spencer Machacek, the team's leading scorer last season with 50 points, has picked up where he left off. The winger notched three points (1G, 2A) on the weekend, including the game-winning goal Sunday at Connecticut while celebrating his 24th birthday.

Shot down: Through two games, the IceCaps have been outshot 70-50 overall, a stark contrast to last season when the club was outshot only 22 times in 76 games. Defenceman Zach Redmond leads all shooters with eight.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

October 12, 2012 St. John's ( HL) signs F Brian Sutherby to a PTO

October 12, 2012 St. John's ( HL) signs F Derek Whitmore to a PTO

October 8, 2012 St. John's ( HL) assigns G Chris Carrozzi to Ontario (ECHL)

October 8, 2012 St. John's ( HL) assigns F Norm Ezekiel and D Cody Sol to Colorado (ECHL)

October 8, 2012 St. John's ( HL) releases F Brayden Irwin, D Mark Mitera and D Chris Huxley



American Hockey League Stories from October 15, 2012


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