O'Marra's OT Goal Lifts Falcons To 3-2 Win
February 5, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Falcons News Release
Ryan O'Marra scored the game winner at 3:49 of overtime and Devan Dubnyk made 36 saves as the Springfield Falcons won a thriller over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers by a score of 3-2 in front of 3,477 fans at the MassMutual Center on Friday night. The Falcons will next head to Albany on Saturday to battle the River Rats starting at 5 pm.
"I was coming across parallel to the net and what I was thinking was going cross-body," O'Marra said after the game. "Hopefully Colin [McDonald] was in front of the net for the screen which he was."
Springfield grabbed the early lead at 1:31 of the first period when Rob Hisey took a turnover in the Tigers zone behind the net and dropped it to Slava Trukhno on the near post who snapped his 7th goal of the year past Martin Biron. The Falcons increased their lead to two on the power-play when Colton Fretter ripped a shot just under the cross bar off a face-off to Biron's left.
The Sound Tigers cut the lead in half when Tyler Haskins tipped a floater from the point past Dubnyk. Biron helped the Tigers kill off a 5-on-3 disadvantage more than half-way through the period as he turned away a total of 12 shots in the opening frame. Dubnyk stopped a prime power-play chance for Bridgeport late in the period when he made a chest-save with Bridgeport players bearing down on him looking for the rebound.
Dubnyk made his first start since January 9 against the Tigers after he was reassigned by Edmonton on Thursday. While with the Oilers, Dubnyk appeared in 9 games with a 4.17 goals against average. Dubnyk had appeared in 23 games for the Falcons this season going 10-12-1-0 with a 2.99 goals against average and .917 save percentage entering the night.
"Devan is a calming influence," said Coach Rob Daum. "Our team appreciates the fact that they know that when he's in the line-up he's going to give us the type of game like he did tonight."
The Tigers began the 2nd period with a power-play, but the Falcons managed to kill it off. Dubnyk continued his solid play flashing the leather early on and continuing to turn away any chances for the Tigers. The Falcons had their chances earning a pair of power-plays, but Biron, like Dubnyk, turned away any scoring chances the Falcons had while on the man advantage.
Biron, who made his first start of the season for the Sound Tigers, made 39 saves after he was reassigned by Bridgeport's National Hockey League affiliate the New York Islanders on Wednesday for a conditioning assignment. He had not played in the American Hockey League since 2000-2001 when he went 3-1 for the Rochester Americans. Biron is 2-11 in his first season with the Islanders. He played 8 seasons for Buffalo and then 3 for Philadelphia before joining New York.
The Falcons best chance of the 2nd period was by Trukhno, but his one-timer was tipped and Biron made the easy save. With the game still at 2-1, the Tigers crashed the net in the final minute of the period, but Dubnyk's stellar play and a diving save by a stick-less Theo Peckham preserved the Falcon lead for the third period.
Trevor Smith tied the game late in the third period when he buried his 15th goal of the season on a rebound at 16:03. As overtime loomed, the Falcons had a power-play chance after the Tigers were called for too many men on the ice. The Falcons extended the man advantage to a 14-second 5-on-3, but were unable to score in regulation.
Bridgeport began the overtime session with 1:22 left on Jon Gleed's minor penalty for holding, but the Falcons could not capitalize. Springfield received another man advantage moments after the first one expired. The Falcons still could not get the game-winner. But with both teams back to full strength, O'Marra took a shot that saw it's way past a screened Biron to give the Falcons the win.
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from February 5, 2010
- Rockford pulls away for win in third period - Cleveland Monsters
- Houston sunk by Admirals in 5-3 loss - Houston Aeros
- Admirals Down Aeros - Milwaukee Admirals
- Porter lifts Rampage past Moose 5-4 in OT - San Antonio Rampage
- Rivermen Double-Up First Place Stars - Peoria Rivermen
- O'Marra's OT Goal Lifts Falcons To 3-2 Win - Springfield Falcons
- Falcons clip Sound Tigers in overtime - Bridgeport Islanders
- Stars fall to Peoria - Texas Stars
- Bulldogs earn sixth win in a row - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Moose suffer 5-4 overtime loss - Manitoba Moose
- Petiot has three points in 5-3 win - Rockford IceHogs
- Admirals win over Wolf Pack - Connecticut Whale
- B-Sens blast Albany - Binghamton Senators
- Admirals on Cloud Nine After Overtime Win - Norfolk Admirals
- Griffins Topple Toronto, 6-3 - Grand Rapids Griffins
- B-Sens Earn 4-3 Win Over Albany - Albany River Rats
- Adirondack Dethrones Monarchs 3-1 - Adirondack Phantoms
- Spooked Monarchs Drop To Second - Manchester Monarchs
- Crunch Pummel Penguins to Win Fifth in a Row - Syracuse Crunch
- Sharks Look Sexy in First Place After 3-0 Win Over Devils - Worcester Sharks
- B-Sens Earn 4-3 Win Over Albany - Albany River Rats
- P-Bruins Fall To Pirates 3-0 - Providence Bruins
- Aeros add goalie to thinning roster - Houston Aeros
- Enroth Leads Pirates To Shutout Victory - Portland Pirates
- Canadiens Recall David Desharnais, Brock Trotter And Ryan White From Bulldogs - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Crunch Players To Sign Autographs At B'Ville Diner to Help Multiple Sclerosis Awareness - Syracuse Crunch
- AHL Announces Suspension - AHL
- Admirals Announce Game Time Change - Milwaukee Admirals
- Aeros Announce Time Change To March 21 Game - Houston Aeros
- Hamilton Bulldogs "Pink In The Rink" Night On February 13 At Copps Coliseum - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Miracle Memories - A Celebration Of The 30th Anniversary Of The 'Miracle on Ice' - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Griffins' Kolosov To Play In Olympics - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Hamilton Recalls Maxime Lacroix From Cincinnati - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Wolf Pack Raises $41,500 At Tip-A-Player Dinner - Connecticut Whale
- 'Canes Recall Justin Peters & Zach Boychuk From Albany - Albany River Rats
- River Rats 4th Annual Ronald McDonald House Jersey Auction Saturday - Albany River Rats
- Falcons Host The Sound Tigers Tonight - - Springfield Falcons
- Moose To Wear East St. Paul Aces Jersey To Celebrate "Hockey Night In Manitoba" - Manitoba Moose
- Game Night: Amerks Take On 'Dogs At Blue Cross Arena - Rochester Americans
- Moose Hit Classroom February 10th To Help With "Respond To Reading" - Manitoba Moose
- AHL Quick Hits -- 2/5/10 - AHL
- B-Sens Assign Goaltender Chris Holt And Forward Tim Spencer To Elmira - Binghamton Senators
- Admirals Sign D Jamie Fritsch To Tryout Contract - Norfolk Admirals
- Pirates Re-Sign Caruana - Portland Pirates
- Kirk Gibson Highlights Griffins' Home Weekend - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Wolves Cool Off Heat, 3-2 - Chicago Wolves
- Wolves Slip Past Heat - Abbotsford Heat
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.
