FALCONS EARN ANOTHER POINT ON THE ROAD
March 26, 2010 - The Springfield Falcons once again earned a point on the road losing to the Lowell Devils 4-3 in a shootout at the Paul Tsongas Arena in Lowell, MA Friday night. The Falcons have now taken 11 of a possible 14 points in their last seven road games going 4-0-2-1 in that span. The Falcons conclude their current five-game road trip in Portland, Maine on Saturday night.
LIVE BOX SCORE
With the game deadlocked at 1-1 entering the third period, the two teams exchanged goals throughout the final frame.
Chad Wiseman gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead at 11:57 of the third period with a power play goal, but Lowell's
Nathan Perkovich tied the score at 2-2 when he converted on the man advantage.
Springfield took their second lead of the third period at 16:06 of the final frame when
Chris Minard scored his 16th goal of the year, but once again Lowell evened the score when
David McIntyre scored less than a minute later sending the contest to overtime.
After a scoreless overtime, it took the teams 11 rounds in the shootout before Lowell's
Brad Snetsinger ended the contest with the Devils' 11th shooter. Springfield's
Slava Trukhno extended the shootout when he scored on Springfield's fifth and final shot.
Wiseman and
Jordan Eberle also scored for Springfield in the shootout.
In the second period,
Stephen Gionta opened the scoring at 12:21 when he scored his 15th goal of the year, but Springfield tied the score at 1-1 when
Liam Reddox scored his 18th marker of the campaign at 17:22 of the middle stanza.
FALCONS LINEUP
Chris Minard - Chad Wiseman - Jordan Eberle
Charles Linglet - Rob Hisey - Colton Fretter
Liam Redoox - Ryan O'Marra - Colin McDonald
Jason Pitton - Slava Trukhno - Matt Beca
Chris Armstrong - Jeff Petry
Eddie Del Gresso - Jake Taylor
J.F. David - Jordan Bendfeld
J.P. Levasseur
Bryon Pitton
•The Falcons had 3 guys make their AHL debuts tonight in Jeff Petry, Eddie Del Grosso and Matt Beca.
FALCONS SCRATCHES - Johan Motin (Healthy), Bryan Lerg (Healthy), Geoff Paukovich (Healthy), Ryan MacMurchy (Healthy), Alex Plante (Injured), Kip Brennan (Injured), Matt Nickerson (Healthy), Tony DeHart (Healthy)
Game Night Notes...
Game Setup: The Falcons and Devils will meet for the final time in the 2009-10 season. In the seven previous meetings the Falcons are 3-2-1-1 against Lowell and are 1-2-0-0 at the the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, the home of the Devils. Springfield is in the midst of a five-game point streak, going 3-0-2-0, and are 6-2-2-0 in their last 10 games. The Devils are only 3-5-0-2 as they fight for the final Atlantic Division playoff spot with the Manchester Monarchs. Lowell is coming off a 2-1 regulation loss at home against Manchester on Wednesday night. In that game, Michael Swift gave the Devils a first period lead of 1-0 but the Monarchs scored two unanswered goals and Monarchs’ goalie Johnathan Bernier made 33 saves in the win.
The Falcons defeated the Devils in the last meeting between the teams on March 6.
Falcons Player Notes:
• New addition Jordan Eberle, reassigned to the Falcons from the Western Hockey League, scored a goal in each of the three games last weekend. Eberle also notched three assists in those games.
• Charles Linglet has 10 points versus the Devils this season, one goal and nine assists. Linglet is fourth in the AHL with 73 points and is third in assists with 54.
• Colton Fretter has a pair of goals and a six-pack of assists in seven games against the Devils. Fretter leads the Falcons with 23 goals. He scored a goal last weekend breaking a 14-game goal drought that stretched back to February 6 in Albany.
• Chris Minard has six goals against the Devils in only three games this season. Minard scored a hat trick on October 25 in Lowell.
• Chad Wiseman and Colin McDonald have each scored three goals against the Devils this season.
Devils Player Notes:
• Alexander Vasyunov leads the Devils with eight points against the Falcons this season. Vasyunov has five goals and three assists while playing in all seven contests against the Falcons.
• Ben Walter leads Lowell with 50 points on the season but Walter has only notched four assists against Springfield in the seven previous meetings.
• Nick Palmieri has the team lead in goals with 21 and has lit the lamp three times against the Falcons.
• Cory Murphy has 6 of his 34 assists against the Falcons this season.
• Matt Halischuk has three goals in two games against Springfield this season. Halischuk scored a pair of goals on March 6 in the Devils 7-5 loss at the MassMutual Center.
Falcon Player Movement Recap:
During the week two players were reassigned to the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL. Matt Marquardt and Bryan Young. Young played in two games during his latest stint in Springfield, that began on March 14 in Portland, and recorded no points. Marquardt joined the Falcons after being traded from Boston to Edmonton and appeared in four games without any points scored.
Also this week Dean Arsene was recalled by the Edmonton Oilers to patrol the blueline north of the boarder. Arsene has has two goals and nine assists in 56 games with the the Falcons this season. Arsene has served six penalty minutes in four games with the Oilers.
The Falcons also signed a trio of former NCAA student-athletes, who’s seasons concluded recently, to Amateur Tryout Contracts this week. On Tuesday, defenseman Eddie Del Grosso and forward Mat Beca were signed. Beca, a native of Mississauga, Ontario played four years for Clarkson University in the NCAA. Beca just wrapped up his senior season, which concluded with Clarkson not making the field of 16 for the Frozen Four Championship, and set a career high with 20 goals. Del Grosso played this season for the University of Nebraska-Omaha and scored seven goals and 23 assists. Defenseman Jeff Petry was signed earlier today after play three seasons for Michigan State. While a Spartan, Petry scored nine goals and notched 58 assists.
Tonight’s Goaltender Match-up:
Springfield
J.P. Levasseur is 0-1-0 against the Devils this season, allowing six goals on December 15. Levasseur is 8-15-0-1 with a 3.57 goals against average and 0.896 save percentage while splitting time between Springfield and Bakersfield in the ECHL.
Bryan Pitton earned a win against the Devils on March 6 giving up 5 goals and making 37 saves in the Falcons 7-5 win. Pitton is 2-2 with the Falcons after spending most of the season in Stockton.
Lowell
Mike McKenna is 21-14-6-3 this season including a 4-1 mark against the Falcons. McKenna a 2.15 goals against average versus Springfield this season.
Jeff Frazee gave up six goals and only made 21 saves on March 6 in Springfield as the Falcons won a wild game 7-5. Frazee is 13-15-0-1 this season for the Devils with a 2.71 goals against average.
*Reprinted with permission by the Springfield Falcons AHL Hockey Club. The Springfield Falcons are a proud affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers (NHL)*
