SPRINGFIELD FALCONS - 4
vs
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS - 5 OT
PENGUINS RALLY PAST FALCONS IN WILKES-BARRE
March 19, 2010 - The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are battling for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and they used a relentless third period attack on the Springfield Falcons Friday night to earn a must needed two ponts. The Falcons saw their 4-1 lead disappear in the final period and Deryk Engelland scored in the overtime for Wilkes-Barre giving the Penguins a 5-4 overtime victory at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. The Falcons will next head to Hartford to battle the Wolf Pack on Saturday night.
The Penguins came out fast and furious in the final 20 minutes trying to erase a three-goal deficit. Konstantin Pushkarev started the rally at 3:12 of the third period for the Penguins, followed by Nick Johnson scoring his second goal of the game at 9:09 of the final frame pulling the Penguins to within one at 4-3. Chris Conner evend the score at 4-4 just 31-seconds after Johnson's marker sending the 6,214 into a frenzy.
"I thought we were lucky to have a lead after two periods because we didn't deserve it with how we were playing," said Falcons head coach Rob Daum "They came out and attacked us all period long and we couldn't answer back.".
In the second period, Springfield built a 2-0 lead at 6:19 when Colton Fretter tapped in a Jordan Eberle rebound on the power play. Johnson cut the Falcons' lead to 2-1 just over a minute later when he scored his 14th goal of the year, but the Falcons responded right back with a pair of markers of their own. Liam Reddox tipped in a Dean Arsene shot at 7:57 of the middle period, followed by J.F. David scoring his first AHL goal at 12:31 of the second frame.
Late in the middle period, Jason Pitton and Engelland dropped the gloves for a marathon fight with Pitton holding his own for the Falcons.
Eberle quickly made an impact in the game when he scored his first goal of the year on his first shift of the game. Eberle was set up by Chad Wiseman in front before Eberle made a nice forehand to backhand play to slide a puck past Penguins goaltender Brad Thiessen just one-minute into the first period.
FALCONS LINEUP
Charles Linglet - Chad Wiseman - Jordan Eberle
Liam Reddox - Rob Hisey - Colton Fretter
Ryan MacMurchy - Ryan O'Marra - Colin McDonald
Matt Marquardt - Slava Trukhno - Jason Pitton
Chris Armstrong - Johan Motin
Jake Taylor - Dean Arsene
J.F. David - Tony DeHart
J.P. Levasseur
Bryon Pitton
FALCONS SCRATCHES - Bryan Young (Healthy), Matt Nickerson (Healthy), Geoff Paukovich (Healthy), Bryan Lerg (Healthy), Alex Plante (Injured), Kip Brennan (Injured), Jordan Bendfeld (Healthy)
PRE-GAME NOTES
The Springfield Falcons continue their six-game road trip this weekend as they get set for three games in three days starting on Friday night in Wilkes-Barre, PA at 7:05 pm. The Falcons practiced Thursday morning in Springfield before jumping on the bus to Wilkes-Barre as they get set to meet the Penguins for the second and final time this year. Springfield beat the Penguins on home ice back on January 17 by a score of 6-3. Chad Wiseman led the Falcons offense on that night collecting four goals and two assists in the win. Wiseman tied a Falcons' record in that game for most goals in a game.
The Falcons have not traveled to Wilkes-Barre since the 2007-08 campaign when Springfield dropped a 6-1 decision on April 4, 2008. Springfield has played 13 games against Wilkes-Barre in their franchise history with the Falcons holding a 7-4-2 advantage.
The Falcons continue their road trip having won their last three road games, all one goal games and two that went into overtime. Springfield started their recent hot stretch on the road back on February 26 in Hartford when they rallied in the third period to tie the score and Rob Hisey won the contest in overtime. On February 27 in Syracuse, Chad Wiseman's goal with just seconds remaining in regulation gave the Falcons a 2-1 win, followed by Springfield's most recent road victory this past Sunday when they scored two third period goals to even the score and finally won the contest in a shootout.
Wilkes-Barre has also been playing very well recently as they battle for one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. The Penguins currently sit in fourth place in the East Division with a record of 34-29-2-3 good for 73 points. The top four teams in both the Atlantic Division and East Division make the Calder Cup Playoffs, unless the fifth place team in the Atlantic has a better record than the fourth place team in the East Division. Currently, the fifth place team in the Atlantic is the Bridgeport Sound Tigers with 73 points, tied with the fourth place Penguins in the East.
FALCONS TIDBITS
•The Springfield Falcons have won five of their last seven games, including three straight road games. The Falcons concluded this past weekend with back-to-back 5-4 shootout victories against the AHL’s leading Hershey Bears on Saturday and at Portland on Sunday.
•The Falcons have played 20 games this year that have gone to overtime and they have nine wins, eight overtime losses and three shootout losses in that span. The Falcons are 5-8 in ot games and 4-3 in shootout games.
•Rob Hisey scored the game-winner in the sixth round of the shootout on Saturday night and followed that up with a “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” on Sunday scoring two goals, collecting one assist and adding a first-period fighting major.
•Goaltender J.P. Levasseur was outstanding in the shootout this weekend stopping all six Hershey shooters on Saturday, followed by turning aside all five Portland shooters on Sunday.
•Chad Wiseman collected two goals and two assists in his last two games including being named the game’s first star on Saturday with two goals and one assist against Hershey.
•Dean Arsene scored his first goal of the year on Saturday against Hershey being named the game’s third star.
•Chris Armstrong extended his scoring streak to 10 games with a goal on Sunday in Portland. Armstrong has two goals and nine assists in that span.
Written By The Springfield Falcons
*Reprinted with permission by the Springfield Falcons AHL Hockey Club. The Springfield Falcons are a proud affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers (NHL)*
*Reprinted with permission by the Springfield Falcons AHL Hockey Club. The Springfield Falcons are a proud affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers (NHL)*
