FALCONS FALL JUST SHORT IN WORCESTER
March 27, 2009 - The Springfield Falcons lost to Worcester Sharks 3-2 on Friday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA. The Sharks opened the scoring at 11:29 of the first period when Dan DaSilva scored his second goal of the year.
It didn't take Springfield's Jordan Eberle long into his pro career to get on the score sheet as the rookie setup Ryan Potulny for his 31st goal of the season evening the score at 1-1 at 12:31 of the opening session.
FALCONS AUDIO - Head Coach Rob Daum Talks About Jordan Eberle's Pro Debut
In the second period, the Falcons took their first lead of the night when Shane Willis scored on the power play at 1:57, but the Sharks would tie the score with a power play goal of their own when Lukas Kaspar one-timed a shot past Devan Dubnyk late in the middle frame.
Less than a minute into the third period, DaSilva added his second goal of the game, the game-winning marker.
FALCONS LINEUP
Stone - Potulny - Eberle
Lefebvre - Paukovich - McDonald
O'Marra - Schremp - Willis
Urquhart - Spurgeon - Benson
Chorney - Wild
Gabinet - Bina
Roy - Young
Dubnyk
Sabourin
FALCONS SCRATCHES - Jake Taylor, Charles Linglet, Bryan Lerg, Tim Sestito, Slava Trukhno, Stephane Goulet, Gilbert Brule, Milan Maslonka, Cleve Kinley,
GAME NOTES
Geoff Paukovich left the game in the first period and didn't return due to injury.
Springfield's Hans Benson and Worcester's Frazer McLaren dropped the gloves in the first period.
PRE-GAME NOTES
Tonight marked the pro debut of 18-year-old Jordan Eberle (Pictured To The Left), who signed an NHL Entry Level contract with the Edmonton Oilers earlier in the week and practiced with the Falcons on Friday morning.
Eberle was drafted by the Oilers in the first round (22nd overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and he recently completed his third season of junior hockey with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League. The 5-foot-10, 181-pound center from Regina, Saskatchewan led the Pats in scoring with 35-39-74 in 61 games. Eberle became a Canadian hockey hero at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa, Ontario, when he scored the tying goal in Canada’s 6-5 OT win over Russia in the tournament semi-final. Eberle, who finished third on the Team Canada scoring list with 6-7-13 in six games, tied the game with five seconds remaining in regulation and after a scoreless overtime, he was one of two Canadians to score in the shootout as Canada earned the semi-final victory and advanced to the gold medal final where they defeated Sweden.
The Falcons not only welcomed Eberle to their roster this week, but they also recalled big 6-foot-6 defenseman Milan Maslonka from Dayton of the ECHL. Maslonka participated in the 2008 Falcons training camp before he started the season with Springfield's ECHL affiliate, the Stockton Thunder. Both forward Cory Urquhart and defenseman Cleve Kinley played for Stockton on Tuesday before being recalled by the Falcons again on Wednesday.
The Falcons play three games in three days this weekend as they head to Albany on Saturday, followed by a home game on Sunday against the Portland Pirates.
