The Rock Report

December 11, 2012 - American Hockey League (AHL)
St. John's IceCaps News Release


Devastated by injuries once again, the IceCaps were unable to fend off the Springfield Falcons this past weekend, dropping 5-3 and 4-2 decisions Friday and Saturday, respectively, to the Eastern Conference's top club. The Hershey Bears visit Mile One Centre Tuesday and Wednesday before the team heads out on the road for a rematch against the Falcons Saturday and a divisional tilt with the Providence Bruins Sunday afternoon.

WEEK IN REVIEW:

Friday, December 7 - Springfield Falcons 5 St John's IceCaps 3 Mile One Centre - St. John's, NL St John's Goals Mouillierat (1), Clark (2), Sawada (4) Springfield Goals: Craig (6), Audy-Marchessault (7), Drazenovic (7), Atkinson (11, 12) Goaltending: STJ - Pasquale (L - 27 shots, 23 saves) / SPR - McElhinney (W - 36 shots, 33 saves) Power Play: STJ 0/6 | SPR 1/4 Three Stars: 1) SPR - J. Audy-Marchessault 2) STJ - Ray Sawada 3) SPR - Curtis McElhinney Mary Brown's HWP Julian Melchiori Attendance: 6,287

The St. John's IceCaps fell just short in their comeback attempt against the Springfield Falcons Friday, falling 5-3 at Mile One Centre.

Trailing 3-1 heading into the final period, the IceCaps battled back to tie it at three, but ultimately fell just short in their comeback bid. Springfield's Cam tkinson scored the go-ahead marker with 4:06 left in regulation and added the empty-netter send the IceCaps (11-11-0-1) to their second straight loss. Atkinson finished the night with four points (two goals and two assists) while Jonathan Audy-Marchessault added a goal and an assist.

St. John's got some offence from newcomer Kael Mouillierat, who scored in his first game as an IceCap after being signed along with Shawn Weller to help fill the void created by a rash of injuries to the club, which was missing eight regulars Friday night. Kevin Clark and Ray Sawada also scored for St. John's, while Joey Sides picked up his first HL points with a pair of assists. Eddie Pasquale made 23 saves on 27 shots in his eighth defeat of the season.

Saturday, December 1 - Springfield Falcons 4 St John's IceCaps 2 Mile One Centre - St. John's, NL St John's Goals Macenauer (6), Postma (4) Springfield Goals: Calvert (7), Kubalik (5), Atkinson (13), Johansen (8) Goaltending: STJ - Dekanich (L - 31 shots, 28 saves) / SPR - McElhinney (W - 48 shots, 46 saves) Power Play: STJ 0/6 | SPR 1/4 Three Stars: 1) SPR - Curtis McElhinney 2) SPR - Ryan Johansen 3) STJ - Max Macaenauer Mary Brown's HWP Kevin Clark Attendance: 6,287

Curtis McElhinney stopped 46 shots and Ryan Johansen notched a goal and two assists as the Springfield Falcons defeated the St. John's IceCaps 4-2 Saturday at Mile One Centre.

The Falcons once again used a strong second period to surge ahead in the game and did not look back. Matt Calvert, Tomas Kubalik and Cam Atkinson all found the back of the net in the middle frame and McElhinney stopped 18 of 19 shots in the period.

Max Macenauer and Paul Postma scored power play goals for St.

John's (11-12-0-1) while Mark Dekanich made 28 saves in defeat.

With the loss, the IceCaps dropped their third straight game for the first time this season.

ICE-CAPSules

Say Hey, Ray: F Ray Sawada is currently sporting a three-game point streak (2G, 1A). The big winger has eight points (4G, 4A) in 13 games this season.

Mailman Delivering:

D Paul Postma is also in the midst of a three-game point streak (1G, 2A) and notched his team-high third power play goal in Saturday's loss. Postma has notched three goals in his last six games overall and has 10 points (4G, 6 ) on the season in just 15 games, three points behind Derek Meech's team-leading 13.

Bombs Away:

After being outshot in their previous five contests, the IceCaps reversed that trend in a big way this past weekend, outshooting the Falcons 84-60. St. John's tied a franchise-high with 48 shots in Saturday's 4-2 loss, a feat they achieved twice last season.

Newcomer makes an impact: The IceCaps signed F Kael Mouillierat to a PTO last Thursday and the move paid immediate dividends: Mouillierat scored a goal in his first shift with the club on Friday night. The Edmonton- native had recorded 27 points in 19 games with the ECHL's Idaho Steelheads, including 14 goals.

Injury Update: Joining the injury list this week was rookie D Julian Melchiori, who suffered a broken finger blocking a shot in Friday's loss to the Falcons. The IceCaps now have nine players out due to injury, including Travis Ramsey (hand), Jason King (head), lex Burmistrov (shoulder), Eric O'Dell (lower body), Jason Jaffray (shoulder), John Albert (upper body), Patrice Cormier (knee) and Hunter Tremblay (concussion-like symptoms).

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

December 6: St. John's ( HL) signs F Shawn Weller to a PTO

December 6: St. John's ( HL) signs F Kael Mouillierat to a PTO

LISTEN TO EVERY ICECAPS GAME LIVE

Listen to every IceCaps game this season online at www.stjohnsicecaps.com by clicking the 'Listen Live' link on the homepage. Play-by-play broadcaster Brian Rogers brings you all the action on the ice, including a pregame show that starts 30 minutes before the drop of the puck. Fans can also listen on the radio at 930AM This Is Newfoundland Labrador. And, watch all the games streaming live online at www.ahllive.com !



American Hockey League Stories from December 11, 2012


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