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Springfield Tops Whale 2-1

March 30, 2013 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release


Springfield, MA, March 30, 2013 - Special teams made the difference Saturday night at the MassMutual Center, as the Connecticut Whale went 0 for 5 on power plays and the Springfield Falcons were 2/5, in a 2-1 Springfield victory.

Curtis McElhinney made 25 saves to backstop the win for the Falcons, who got goals from Michael Chaput and Nick Holden. Brandon Segal scored the only Whale goal, and Jason Missiaen made 26 saves.

After a scoreless first period in which the Whale were unable to capitalize on three man advantages, the Falcons opened the scoring on their first man-up situation of the game, 3:32 into the second period.

Former Whale Jonathan Audy-Marchessault sent the puck to Spencer Machacek on right wing, and Machacek fed back across to Chaput jamming the left-wing side. Missiaen got a piece of Chaput's close-in shot but could not keep it out of the net.

Segal, who was in the penalty box for that goal, got the Whale even exactly two minutes later, at 5:32. Springfield goaltender Curtis McElhinney stopped a Stu Bickel shot, and then made an outstanding save on a Nick Palmieri rebound, but Segal pounced on the rebound of that shot and put it in.

That goal increased Segal's team-leading total on the year to 22 and gave him a four-game goal-scoring streak, the longest by a Whale player this season. Palmieri's assist stretched a point streak to five games (1-4-5) for him, and Bickel got the secondary assist, for his first point in three games since joining the Whale from the parent New York Rangers.

The Falcon power play struck again only 1:57 after that, though, at 7:29. Holden would put Springfield back on top with his eighth goal of the season, as his long shot through traffic from the left point found its way past Missiaen.

That turned out to be the game-winner, as the Whale outshot Springfield 7-3 in the third period, but could not manage to get anything behind McElhinney.

The Whale's next action is on home ice this Friday, April 5, when the Falcons visit the XL Center for a 7:00 PM game. That is the Whale's last Friday-night home game of the regular season. That means it is the last chance to take advantage of the Whale's special Friday-night food and beverage deal, which features $1 hot dogs and $2 beers until the end of the first intermission.

Also on Friday night, "Miracle on Ice" 1980 Team USA gold medal-winning hockey players Jack O'Callahan, Dave Silk and Steve Janaszak will be making a special appearance, to support "A Miracle for Justina", which is a fund to help defray the associated expenses of Justina, a 14-year-old West Hartford girl who is dealing with a complicated set of health issues. O'Callahan, Silk and Janaszak will be signing autographs for fans in the XL Center Atrium before the game and in the first intermission. There will also be a silent auction before and during the game of valuable sports memorabilia. Auction items will include autographed shirts donated by 1980 Team USA Olympians Jim Craig, and Mike Eruzione. All the proceeds from the auction will be donated to A Miracle for Justina. Fans can also take advantage of a special ticket discount, as $27 lower-bowl tickets can be purchased for only $15 each, with a portion of the proceeds from those discounted tickets going to A Miracle for Justina. To order the special A Miracle for Justina tickets, contact Jennifer Pelletier at a_miracle_for_justina@hotmail.com or (860) 614-7300. The deadline for ticket orders is this Wednesday, April 3.

For all Whale home games, tickets start as low as $10 each ($12 each when tickets are purchased on the day of the game), at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, through TicketMaster Charge-by-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at www.ticketmaster.com .

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