FALCONS LOSE TO SOUND TIGERS 7-3
December 5, 2009 - Saturday night's game was a tale of three different hockey games as the Springfield Falcons lost to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 7-3 at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT. The Falcons rallied from three goals down in the first period to score three of their own in the second period, followed by allowing four markers in the third period. The Falcons have now lost five straight games going 0-4-1-0 as they prepare to host the Adirondack Phantoms on Sunday afternoon starting at 3 pm at the MassMutual Center.
For the second straight game, the Falcons found themselves facing an early deficit and would have to play catch-up throughout the night. Bridgeport built a three-goal lead in the first period on goals from Matt Martin, Greg Mauldin and Jesse Joensuu. The Sound Tigers outshot the Falcons 15-3 in the opening 20-minutes and had control of the game.
The second period was a complete opposite from the first period as the Falcons started an early rally and took the momentum back from Bridgeport. Johan Motin started the comeback when he scored his first AHL/pro goal at 1:52 of the second period. Springfield cut their deficit to 3-2 at 7:50 of the middle stanza when Geoff Paukovich snapped a backhand top shelf on Bridgeport goaltender Rick DiPietro, followed by Bill Thomas scoring his first goal as a member of the Falcons at 13:44 evening the score at 3-3. The Falcons scored three goals on their first nine shots on DiPietro in the second period.
"I thought our second and third goals were good goals," said Falcons head coach Rob Daum. "Geoff collected a rebound and buried it, while Liam Reddox made a nice backdoor pass for Thomas' goal. We had some chances during the period to also go ahead in the game, we hit a few posts."
With the Falcons seizing the momentum, Slava Trukhno beat DiPietro to the glove side late in the second period, but the puck hit the post and didn't cross the goal line.
After the second intermission, the Sound Tigers regained their one-goal lead at 5:26 of the third period when Greg Moore converted on the power play, followed by Justin DiBenedetto scoring just 25-seconds later giving Bridgeport a 5-3 lead. Mark Flood and DiBenedetto would add a pair of goals late in the final frame leading the Sound Tigers to a 7-3 win.
The play in the third period turned a little chippy as Springfield's Kip Brennan and Bridgeport's Trevor Gillies dropped the gloves, followed by Alex Plante and Matt Martin collecting fighting majors.
GAME NOTES
Both Matt Nickerson and Johan Motin left the game due to injuries. Nickerson had a cut on his arm that required stitches after a second period fight with Pascal Morency. Motin took a puck in the facial region late in the third period, but was able to skate off the ice under his own power. Both players are day-to-day.
Johan Motin and Bill Thomas each finished the night with one goal and one assist.
Bridgeport had 12 different players record a point, Mark Wotton (3 assists), Jesse Joensuu (1 goal, 2 assists), Justin DiBenedetto (2 goals), Sean Bentivoglio (2 assists), and Greg Mauldin (1 goal, 1 assist) all had multi-point games.
Rick DiPietro stopped 10 of 13 shots in 40 minutes of action. The plan was to have Scott Munroe take over in the third period as DiPietro is rehabbing from injury. DiPietro's last game was back on January 2, 2009 and he has only played in five games over the last two seasons.
FALCONS LINEUP
Charles Linglet - Chad Wiseman - Colton Fretter
Slava Trukhno - Bill Thomas - Liam Reddox
Ryan MacMurchy - Geoff Paukovich - Colin McDonald
Kip Brennan - Bryan Lerg - Jamie Bates
Cody Wild - Matt Nickerson
Theo Peckham - Alex Plante
Johan Motin - Chris Armstrong
Aaron Sorochan
Andrew Perugini
FALCONS SCRATCHES - Chris Minard (Injured), Jake Taylor (Injured), Bryan Young (Healthy)
FALCONS SIGN CHRIS ARMSTRONG TO AHL CONTRACT
--Adam Henrich Released From Professional Tryout Agreement--
Springfield, MA – The Springfield Falcons, proud members of the American Hockey League, announced today they have signed defenseman Chris Armstrong to a standard American Hockey League contract. The Falcons also announced they have released Adam Henrich from his Professional Tryout Agreement (PTO).
Armstrong originally signed a Professional Tryout Agreement at the start of the 2009-10 season and he currently leads all Springfield defensemen in scoring with one goal and eight assists for nine points in 22 games played.
Armstrong is in his 16th professional season and has played in 459 AHL contests totaling 59 goals and 219 assists for 278 career points. The Regina, Saskatchewan native has led his respective AHL team in scoring among defensemen three times in his AHL career, while ranking second in that same category three times. Armstrong was originally drafted by the Florida Panthers in the third round (57th overall) in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft and has played for the Carolina Monarchs, Hershey Bears, Kentucky Thoroughblades, Bridgeport Sound Tigers and Cincinnati Mighty Ducks during his AHL career.
Henrich had a pair of stints with the Falcons this year totaling two goals and one assist for three points in five games. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound native of Thornhill, Ontario also appeared in eight games with the ECHL’s Ontario Reign this year where he registered five goals and four assists for nine points. He most recently was playing with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones.
The Falcons are back in action on Saturday night as they head to Bridgeport, CT to take on the Sound Tigers starting at 7 pm, followed by a Sunday matinee at the MassMutual Center against the Adirondack Phantoms starting at 3:00 pm.
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