FALCONS FALL IN GLENS FALLS 4-3

October 9, 2009 - The Springfield Falcons started out strong taking a two-goal second period lead, but in the end, fell short to the Adirondack Phantoms 4-3 on Friday night at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

LIVE BOX SCORE

After a scoreless first period, the Falcons opened the scoring in the second period when Taylor Chorney converted on the power play giving Springfield a 1-0 lead. The Falcons took a 2-0 advantage at 14:11 of the middle period when Colin McDonald's slap shot from the right wing circle beat Adirondack goaltender Johan Backlund to the blocker side.

Protecting a 2-0 lead, the Falcons ended up on a power play late in the second period, but failed to convert, and Adirondack started to make a comeback. With momentum swinging in their favor, Adirondack's Andreas Nodl was tripped while on a breakaway resulting in a penalty shot. Nodl took advantage of the opportunity and beat Falcons goaltender Devan Dubnyk on the scoring chance cutting the Phantoms' deficit to 2-1. Adirondack evened the score at 2-2 when Oskars Bartulis scored on the power play sending the contest deadlocked at 2-2 through 40 minutes.

Early in the third period, Adirondack took their first lead of the night when Jonathon Kalinski slid a shot past Dubnyk at 2:26. Josh Beaulieu gave the Phantoms a 4-2 lead at 15:37 of the final frame, before Ryan Potulny cut Springfield's deficit to 4-3 with three minutes remaining.

Falcons Lineup for Tonight’s Game vs. Adirondack

Slava Trukhno – Ryan Potulny – Liam Reddox
Charles Linglet – Adam Henrich – Chris Minard
Kip Brennan – Colin McDonald – Ryan O’Marra
Ryan MacMurchy – Geoff Paukovich – Colton Fretter

Dean Arsene – Jake Taylor
Theo Peckham – Alex Plante
Taylor Chorney – Chris Armstrong

Devan Dubnyk
Aaron Sorochan

FALCONS SCRATCHES - Matt Nickerson (Healthy), Johan Motin (Healthy), Dylan Stanley (Injured), Bryan Lerg (Healthy), Cody Wild (Healthy)

PRE-GAME STORY

By Andrew Tressler:

October 9, 2009- Springfield hits the road this weekend, heading up to Glens Falls, NY to take on the Adirondack Phantoms (0-1) tonight at 7:30 pm. This will be the first of two meetings this season between the Falcons and Phantoms. The Phantoms lost their season opener last weekend at home, 3-2 to Worcester in front of a sell out crowd of 5,411, well above the seating capacity of 4,816. The Falcons (1-1) are coming off a 6-2 loss in Providence last Sunday. Both teams are looking to rebound with an Eastern Conference win.

It is never easy to get a road win in the AHL, and the players know that earning the first road “W” means doing the little things right and not making mental errors.

“It’s always easy to play at home,” said Falcons Captain Dean Arsene on getting that first road win, “But on the road you have to bear down and sometimes it’s ugly hockey and we have to be able to do the little things, which we were very bad at actually in Providence last weekend.”

The Falcons must play better than last Sunday in order to win any games this weekend. Winning on the road can be the difference between making or missing the Calder Cup Playoffs.

“We have to be better on the road,” said Arsene, “Road games and road wins are what separate the average teams from the elite teams and we need to be able to win on the road.”

The Falcons’ biggest strength early in the season has been their penalty kill, going 14 for 15. This gameplay seems likely to continue as the Phantoms were 0-6 on power play opportunities in their one and only game of the season.

“We can’t take as many penalties as we’ve taken,” said Head Coach Rob Daum about the keys to tonight’s game, “And we need to tighten up our game defensively. We gave up far too many odd man rushes in both games on the weekend...Those are the two areas that we have to work on.”

Throughout practices this week, the Falcons have focused on these weak spots, looking to improve their play from last Sunday’s game against Providence.

“One of the main things we gave up were a lot of odd man rushes,” said Falcons forward Ryan Potulny, “Our forwards weren’t getting back in time and our ‘D’ were maybe stepping up at the wrong times. We tried to work that out a little bit, work out the kinks and communicate a little better.”

Coach Daum and the coaching staff know that one of the keys to success in the season will be in-game adjustments on both the defensive and offensive game plans. As the season continues the Falcons will scout and watch video of their opponents, but early in the year the team will be focusing in on their own play and making adjustments as the game carries on.

“We’ll forecheck a little bit differently,” said Coach Daum about some adjustments made heading into the game versus Adirondack, “And be prepared to make adjustments as time goes on.”

Springfield will look to get off to a fast start taking the home crowd out of the game while setting the tempo. Being able to set the tempo early in the game can take the Phantoms out of their gameplan, while hand the momentum over to the Falcons.

“If you can get off to a quick start on the road that’s always nice,” said Potulny, “But I think it’s just play a solid team game and you can’t make mistakes on the road. If you make mistakes on the road, a lot of times the puck will end up in your net; just play a solid game, solid effort, keeps things simple, and not try to do too much.”

Potulny played for the Phantoms during the 2007-08 season when they were located in Philadelphia and is looking forward to taking on some of his friends and former teammates.

“It will be fun to see some of the guys and say hi to them,” said Potluny with a grin on his face, “But once I get on the ice there’s no love once the puck drops.”

Listen to tonight’s game on WHYN AM 560 with the “Voice of the Falcons” broadcaster Mike Kelly starting with the pregame at 7:15pm.

After tonight’s game against the Phantoms, the Falcons will face the Hartford Wolf Pack (0-1) Saturday night in Hartford at 7:00pm for the Wolf Pack’s home opener.

Team Notes:

RW Dylan Stanley will sit out for the third straight game Friday night due to injury...Falcons Chris Minard will be looking for his third consecutive game with a goal to start the season...This will be the first time the Springfield Falcons will play in Glens Falls since January 22, 1999 when the Falcons defeated the then Adirondack Red Wings, 5-1...Phantom’s goalie and native Swede, Johan Backlund, potentially will make his North American pro debut tonight after being sent down from the Philadelphia Flyers earlier in the week...Falcons Defenseman Theo Peckham will be making his season debut with the Falcons after sitting out the first two games with an injury.

Falcons Team Leaders:

Points: Chris Minard and Taylor Chorney (3)
Goals: Chris Minard (2)
Assists: Taylor Chorney, Chris Armstrong, and Ryan Potulney (2)
Plus/Minus: Chris Minard, Charles Linglet, and Jake Taylor (+1)
Shots: Adam Henrich (8)
Penalty Minutes: Jake Taylor (21)
Saves: Devan Dubnyk (63)
Wins: Devan Dubnyk (1)
GAA: Aaron Sorochan (3.00)
Save Percentage: Aaron Sorochan (0.917)

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FALCONS FALL IN GLENS FALLS 4-3