FALCONS FALL TO SOUND TIGERS 6-2
By Andrew Tressler:
December 11, 2009- Thanks to five second period goals, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers earned a dominating 6-2 road victory over the Springfield Falcons Friday night at the MassMutual Center. Bridgeport handed Springfield their eighth consecutive loss (0-6-1-1) as the Falcons fell to 10-12-4-2 on the year.
LIVE BOX SCORE
“Hopefully we bottomed out,” said Falcons Head Coach Rob Daum, “There’s a time in every losing streak when you bottom out and hopefully that’s now and we can get ourselves ready for tomorrow.”
In a heated first period, Bridgeport struck first at 16:08 when Trevor Smith connected on a penalty shot for his 10th goal of the season. Smith snuck the puck in between Springfield Andrew Perugini’s legs. This is the seventh consecutive game where the Falcons failed to score the first goal of the game. Once again Springfield would need to rally if it wanted to earn the win.
Early in the period, the rivalry between these two teams reared its head when Springfield’s Theo Peckham and Bridgeport’s Brett Westgarth dropped the gloves. Both players had a furry of punches, but in the end it was an even match with neither hitting the ice. The physical play continued throughout the period with some pushing and shoving on multiple occasions.
Springfield had quality scoring chances in the first period including two power play opportunities. Ryan O’Marra displayed his puck handling skills during the first power play but his wrist shot was blocked by Bridgeport goalie Rick DiPietro. During the second power play the Sound Tigers played aggressive as they stopped the Falcons again. At the end of the first, the Falcons outshot the Sound Tigers 8-6. Bridgeport led 1-0 after the first period of play.
The Sound Tigers exploded in the second period as they took a 6-1 lead into the final period. The Falcons looked like they had the momentum after tying the game up 1-1 less than five minutes into the second stanza. A huge collision between Peckham and Bridgeport’s Trevor Gillies led to a 4-on-4. During the 4-on-4 Bridgeport had a pending penalty which the Falcons took advantage of as they pulled their goaltender and brought Colton Fretter in as the extra man. Fretter immediately scored his 12th goal of the year to tie the game up. It looked like Springfield had a great opportunity to gain the momentum after Fretter’s goal, but that would be the only goal in the period for the Falcons.
“We had a chance to maybe gain some momentum from the goal,” said Coach Daum on Fretter’s game tying goal, “Then they scored right after to make it 2-1. Then the floodgates opened from there.”
Bridgeport blew up for five consecutive goals following Fretter’s goal on their way to the win. Bridgeport scored their second goal of the game less than two minutes after Fretter’s score as Gillies notched his first goal of the season. The Sound Tigers would not relinquish the lead after Gillies’s score.
Later in the period Bridgeport converted on their first power play opportunity as Sean Bentivoglio scored his third goal of the season against Springfield and ninth overall at 9:03. Bentivoglio added his second goal of the game three minutes later to give the visiting Sound Tigers a commanding 4-1 lead.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, the Sound Tigers were not finished in the period. Pascal Morency scored his second goal of the season at 13:07 in the second period. Following the goal, the Falcons coaching staff decided to pull their goalie, Perugini, replacing him with Aaron Sorochan. Perugini ended the game stopping only 10 of the 15 shots he faced.
Sorochan tried to stop the bleeding for Springfield, but at 16:23 Bridgeport’s James Sixsmith tallied his second goal of the season to make it a 6-1 lead heading into the final period. Before playing the final twenty minutes, the Sound Tigers already scored the most goals as a road team against the Falcons this season with six. Springfield got off only four shots against an aggressive Bridgeport team in the second period.
“It would be easy to dwell on the negative,” said Coach Daum, “But you don’t want to dwell on the negative because like I say it’s piling on. We got enough problems without creating more. So we just come here tomorrow and do the things that we need to do to be successful.”
Early in the third period, Fretter scored his eighth power play goal of the season and second goal of the game at 57-seconds to make it a 6-2 deficit for Springfield.
Bridgeport outshot the Falcons 22-20 for the game and converted on their one and only power play to earn the two points. Springfield will look to end their skid tomorrow night when they host the Portland Pirates at 7pm.
Game Notes
The official attendance of tonight’s game was 2,355...Falcons Captain and Defenseman Dean Arsene was in the Springfield lineup for the first time since being called up to Edmonton on November 14...Springfield Falcons Defenseman Taylor Chorney played in his first game since October 10 versus Hartford. Since then Chorney has been playing for the Edmonton Oilers...Before the game Macy’s Holyoke Store Manager Andrea York and five-year old Make-A-Wish child Gabrielle together dropped the ceremonial first puck...Bridgeport’s Jeremy Reich made his season debut with the Sound Tigers in the game...Goalie Andrew Perugini was pulled in favor of Aaron Sorochan in the middle of the second period after giving up five goals on 15 shots...Bridgeport replaced starting goalie Rick DiPietro after two periods with Scott Munroe...Trevor Gillies was given a game misconduct during the third period of play.
Three Stars of Game
1st Star- Sean Bentivoglio (2 G) - BRI
2nd Star- Dustin Kohn (2 A) - BRI
3rd Star- Greg Mauldin (2 A) - BRI
Falcons Lineup
Charles Linglet – Chad Wiseman – Colton Fretter
Slava Trukhno – Bill Thomas – Liam Reddox
Ryan MacMurchy – Ryan O’Marra – Colin McDonald
Kip Brennan – Geoff Paukovich – Ronald Petrovicky
Taylor Chorney – Johan Motin
Dean Arsene – Jake Taylor
Theo Peckham – Alex Plante
Andrew Preugini
Aaron Sorochan
Scratches
Bryan Young (Healthy), Matt Nickerson (Healthy), Chris Minard (Injured), Bryan Lerg (Healthy), Chris Armstrong (Injured), Cody Wild (Healthy)
PRE-GAME NIGHT NOTES.....................
Game Setup: The Springfield Falcons will host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers tonight as the teams go head to head for the fourth time this season. The teams will meet six more times this season with the next game on Sunday, December 20, in Bridgeport, CT. In the previous three contests, the Sound Tigers have taken two wins, including last Saturday’s 7-3 victory in Bridgeport. The Falcons won the first meeting of the season between the teams on November 6 with a 5-2 home victory. In a November 13 game, the Sound Tigers earned a 3-2 overtime win at the MassMutual Center. Springfield’s leading scorers against Bridgeport this season are Colton Fretter (1 G, 3 A) and Chad Wiseman (3 G, 1 A). The Sound Tigers leading scorers against Springfield this season are Sean Bentivoglio (2 G, 3 A), Justin DiBenedetto (3 G), and Mark Wotton (4 A). Playing in net for Bridgeport in those games has been Scott Munroe for all but 40 minutes when NHL veteran Rick DiPietro played goal. Munroe has stopped 54 of 61 shots on goal. DiPietro stopped 10 of 13 shots in his 40 minutes of action with Bridgeport this season, all coming last Saturday versus the Falcons.
Springfield’s Charles Linglet leads the team in points (28), assists (21), and games played (27). Linglet’s 28 points places him third in the AHL and his 21 assists is good for second in the league. Leading the Falcons in goals this season is Colton Fretter with 11 goals to match his 11 assists on the year. Fretter also leads the team with seven power play goals this year.
Bridgeport has five players with at least 15 points thus far this year. Sean Bentivoglio leads all Sound Tigers with 18 points (8 G, 10 A). The leading goal scorer for Bridgeport is Greg Mauldin with 10 goals to go along with his five assists. Also playing well for Bridgeport this season are Greg Moore (7 G, 10 A), Jesse Joensuu (5 G, 11 A), and Trevor Smith (9 G, 6 A). Forwards Pascal Morency and Trevor Gillies lead Bridgeport in penalty minutes this season recording 92 and 90 minutes in the box. Nathan Lawson and Scott Munroe have spent the most time in net for the Sound Tigers this season. Lawson has a 5-6-1 record, 2.40 GAA, and .925 save percentage. Munroe has posted an 8-6-1 record, 2.59 GAA, and .921 save percentage.
The Falcons have a 10-11-4-2 record totaling 26 points, placing them in eighth place in the Atlantic Division. Springfield is looking to snap a seven-game winless streak
(0-5-1-1). Springfield is 6-3-3-2 at home this season, but they are 0-3-1-1 in their last five games at The Nest. Following the game tonight, the Falcons will wrap up their weekend tomorrow night when they host the Portland Pirates.
Bridgeport is 14-13-0-2 with 30 points this season, placing them fourth in the tight Atlantic Division. The Sound Tigers come into the game with a 5-7-0-1 road record, but one of those wins was at the MassMutual Center. Bridgeport has played well in their last 10 games going 6-3-0-1 with 13 points. Bridgeport will travel south on I-91 to take on their Connecticut rival, the Hartford Wolf Pack Saturday night to end their week of games.
Falcons Transactions: 12-4-09- The Springfield Falcons have announced that they have released center Jason Morgan from his PTO (Player Tryout Contract). Morgan appeared in four games for Springfield this season, but did not record one point in any game.
12-4-09- The NHL’s Edmonton Oilers announced that they have returned on loan right wing Colin McDonald. McDonald played in two games for the Oilers as he made his NHL debut scoring his first ever NHL goal. McDonald has played in 24 games for Springfield recording five goals and four assists this season.
12-5-09- The Springfield Falcons announced the official signing of defenseman Chris Armstrong to an AHL Standard Player Contract (SPC). Armstrong has previously been playing for the Falcons while on a PTO. Armstrong has played in 24 games for the team this season recording two goals and eight assists to lead all Springfield defensemen in scoring.
12-5-09- Forward Adam Henrich has been released from his PTO with the Springfield Falcons. This was Henrich’s second stint with the Falcons this season. Combining the two stretches with Springfield, Henrich played in five games recording two goals and one assist.
12-6-09- The Edmonton Oilers announced that they have returned on loan defenseman Taylor Chorney and center Ryan O’Marra to the Springfield Falcons. Chorney appeared in 13 games for the Oilers before being hindered by an ankle injury. Chorney played well in four games at the start of the season for Springfield recording two goals and three assists. O’Marra has been called up to Edmonton two separate times this season, recording one assist in three games for the Oilers. O’Marra has skated in 22 games for the Falcons this year producing five goals and three assists.
12-7-09- The Springfield Falcons have announced that they have returned on loan forward Jamie Bates to their ECHL affiliate, the Stockton Thunder. Bates has appeared in six games for Springfield this season generating one assist. Bates has played 11 games with the Thunder previously this season recording six goals and five assists.
12-8-09- The Springfield Falcons have announced the signing of right wing Ronald Petrovicky. The 12-year pro and Zilina, Slovakia native has appeared in 342 NHL games splitting time among the Calgary Flames, New York Rangers, Atlanta Thrashers, and Pittsburgh Penguins recording 41 goals and 51 assists for 92 points and 429 PIM. Petrovicky has also played in 149 career AHL contests totaling 35 goals and 54 assists for 89 points and 245 penalty minutes sharing time with the Saint John Flames and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Petrovicky’s brother, Robert, is a former Springfield Indians and Falcons player from 1992-96.
Sound Tigers Transactions: 12-5-09- The Bridgeport Sound Tigers announced that their NHL affiliate, New York Islanders, have returned on loan defenseman Andrew MacDonald. MacDonald has appeared in 21 games with two goals and six assists on the season. Two days later on December 7, MacDonald was recalled back to the Islanders.
12-8-09- The Bridgeport Sound Tigers announced two roster changes Tuesday afternoon. Forward Tony Romano has been reassigned to the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL while the Islanders assigned forward Jeremy Reich to the Sound Tigers. This is Romano’s first professional season and has played in 21 games for Bridgeport recording two points, one goal and one assist on the year. Reich is a 10-year AHL veteran who has spent this season playing in the NHL for the Islanders.
12-8-09- The Bridgeport Sound Tigers recalled from their ECHL affiliate, Utah Grizzlies, forward Jason Dale. Later in the day, Dale was loaned to the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors. Dale has played in 12 games for Utah with two goals and one assist on the season.
12-9-09- The Bridgeport Sound Tigers have announced that they have recalled on loan from the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies, defenseman Victor Bartley. Bartley, a Maple Ridge, B.C. native, has played in 21 games this season for the Grizzlies tallying 13 points (2 G, 11 A). Bartley appeared in 10 games last season for the Providence Bruins recording zero points and six penalty minutes.
Falcons Team and Player Notes:
• Springfield has not scored the game’s first goal for six straight contests and eight out of nine games.
• The Falcons have the third best home power play scoring rate in the AHL at 25.9%.
• Springfield is 7-0-0-1 when leading after the second period of play this year.
Sound Tigers Team and Player Notes:
• Bridgeport ranks 5th in the 29-team AHL in penalty minutes per game, averaging 23.69 a contest.
• The Sound Tigers are 9-2-0-1 when they score the game’s first goal.
• Bridgeport is 7-0-0-0 when leading after the first period in a game this season.
• Bridgeport averages 2.41 goals for per game and allows 2.72 goals against per game.
DEFENSEMAN CHRIS ARMSTRONG OUT INDEFINITELY
Springfield, MA – The Springfield Falcons, proud members of the American Hockey League, announced today that defenseman Chris Armstrong will be sidelined indefinitely due to eye surgery. The Falcons will provide updates as they become available.
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.
