FALCONS LOSE TO DEVILS 6-1 IN LOWELL
December 15, 2009 - The Springfield Falcons lost to the Lowell Devils 6-1 on Tuesday night at the Paul Tsongas Arena in Lowell, MA. The Devils used five power play goals and a hat trick from Alexander Vasyunov to collect the win. The Falcons had their winless streak extended to 10 games (0-8-1-1) as they prepare for the Portland Pirates on Friday.
For the ninth straight game, the Falcons failied to score the game's first goal as Vasyunov converted on the power play at 6:49 of the first period. Springfield evened the score at 1-1 when Bill Thomas scored on the man advantage at 10:13 of the opening session.
The Falcons ran into all sorts of penalty trouble in the second period and for the third straight contest, the middle period put the Falcons behind the eight ball. Lowell's Brad Snetsinger scored on the power play at 8:29 giving the Devils a 2-1 lead. Matt Halischuk converted on the man advantage at 16:19 expanding Lowell's lead to 3-1, followed by Vasyunov scoring his second power play goal of the contest at 16:48 of the second period giving the Devils a 4-1 lead through 40 minutes.
Vasyunov added his third goal of the game late in the third period as Lowell cruised to a 6-1 win.
GAME NOTES
Goaltender J.P. Levasseur made his Falcons debut stopping 27 of 33 shots after being loaned to the Falcons earlier this week by the Anaheim Ducks.
Defenseman J.F. David also made his Falcons debut after signing a PTO on Monday.
The teams combined for 110 penalty minutes, 62 for Springfield and 48 for Lowell.
Lowell was 5-9 on the power play, Springfield was 1-7.
THREE STARS
1. Vasyunov - Lowell - 3 goals
2. Murphy - Lowell - 4 assists
3. Halischuk - Lowell - 1 goal, 1 assist
FALCONS LINEUP
Charles Linglet - Chad Wiseman - Colton Fretter
Slava Trukhno - Bill Thomas - Liam Reddox
Ronald Petrovicky - Ryan O'Marra - Colin McDonald
Kip Brennan - Geoff Paukovich - Ryan MacMurchy
Jake Taylor - Dean Arsene
Taylor Chorney - Johan Motin
J.F. David - Alex Plante
J.P. Levasseur
Aaron Sorochan
FALCONS SCRATCHES - Bryan Young (Healthy), Matt Nickerson (Healthy), Chris Minard (Injured), Bryan Lerg (Healthy), Theo Peckham (Injured), Chris Armstrong (Injured), Cody Wild (Healthy)
PRE-GAME NOTES.....................
Game Setup: The Springfield Falcons (10-13-4-2, 26 points) will travel to Lowell, MA, tonight to take on the Devils (15-11-3-0, 33 points) at 7pm. This will be the fifth time the teams meet this season, with the Falcons getting the better of the Devils with a 2-0-1-1 record. The teams will face one another three more times this season. The most recent contest between the teams was a 4-3 Springfield win on November 18 at The Nest. Leading the way for the Falcons in the season series against the Devils are Charles Linglet (1 G, 5 A), Colton Fretter (2 G, 3 A), Chris Minard (4 G), and Chad Wiseman (1 G, 3 A). Goalie Devan Dubnyk started three of the games for Springfield, posting a .923 save percentage and 2.87 GAA. Rookie netminder Aaron Sorochan started the other game making 29 of 31 saves. The Devils have been balanced in the four contests with nine players with multiple points. Of those nine players, Alexander Vasyunov leads all Devils players with two goals and two assists. Starting in goal in three of the four games for Lowell has been Mike McKenna posting a 2.55 GAA and .877 save percentage. The next game between the teams will be on January 3 in Lowell.
The leading goal scorer for the Falcons is Colton Fretter with 13 goals, to go along with his 11 assists. Fretter’s 24 points places him 17th in the American Hockey League. Of Fretter’s 13 goals, eight of them were power play goals, which leads the AHL. Charles Linglet leads the Falcons and the AHL in assists this season notching 24 assists so far this season. Linglet also leads the Falcons with 31 points, placing him in a tie for second in the AHL. Linglet has 10 power play assists this season, placing him in a second place tie for the AHL league lead.
This season the Devils are a balanced offensive team with three players with over 20 points and eight players with at least 15 points on the season. Leading the Devils are Ben Walter (7 G, 15 A, 22 P), rookie Matt Taormina (7 G, 13 A, 20 P), Vladimir Zharkov (6 G, 14 A, 20 P), and Tim Sestito (9 G, 7 A, 16 P). In goal the Devils have been led by McKenna who has posted a 9-6-0-2 record with a 2.52 GAA and .918 save percentage. Tyler Eckford leads the Devils with a +12 rating. Louis Robitaille leads all Lowell players and is third in the AHL with 130 PIM on the season.
The Falcons are struggling in their last nine games going winless (0-7-1-1). In their last eight games, the Falcons have failed to score the game’s first goal. Last weekend the Falcons were outscored by Bridgeport and Portland a combined 13-3. In both of those games, the second period was the difference in the game where the Falcons were outscored 9-2. Following the game tonight, the Falcons will travel to Portland, ME to take on the Pirates on Friday before hosting the Providence Bruins on Saturday.
Lowell comes into the game losers of two of their last three, but in second place in the Atlantic Division with 33 points. Last weekend, the Devils went on the road as they took on the Manchester Monarchs and Providence Bruins. Against the Bruins, Lowell was shutout 3-0 in Providence. However the Devils did defeat the Atlantic Division leading Monarchs 3-2 in Manchester last Saturday. Following the game tonight, Lowell will host the Albany River Rats on Friday, December 18.
Falcons Transactions: 12-8-09- The Springfield Falcons, proud members of the American Hockey League, announced that they have signed Right Wing Ronald Petrovicky to a PTO (Player Tryout Agreement). Petrovicky is a is a veteran of 342 NHL games collecting 41 goals and 51 assists for 92 points and 429 penalty minutes splitting time between Calgary Flames, New York Rangers, Atlanta Thrashers, and Pittsburgh Penguins. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound native of Zilina, Slovakia has also appeared in 149 career AHL contests recording 35 goals and 54 assists for 89 points and 245 penalty minutes sharing time with the Saint John Flames and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
12-10-09- The Edmonton Oilers have returned on loan Defenseman Dean Arsene back to the Springfield Falcons. Arsene appeared in two games with the Oilers during his time in the NHL. Falcons Captain Arsene has played in 18 games this season for the Falcons recording two assists and 38 PIM.
12-12-09- The Edmonton Oilers have returned on loan Goalie Devan Dubnyk to the Springfield Falcons. Dubnyk played in one game with the Oilers in relief duty as he stopped 21 of 24 shots. Dubnyk has played in 19 games this season for the Falcons posting a 3.00 GAA and .917 save percentage. Two days on December 14, the Oilers recalled Dubnyk back to Edmonton.
12-12-09- The Springfield Falcons have returned on loan goalie Andrew Perugini to their ECHL affiliate Stockton Thunder. Perugini had a 0-3-1 record with a 4.05 GAA and .874 save percentage.
12-14-09- The Springfield Falcons received goaltender Jean-Philippe Levasseur (pronounced LEV-a-sur) on loan from the Anaheim Ducks. The 6-foot, 197-pound native of Victoriaville, Quebec has been playing with the Central Hockey League’s Laredo Bucks this year posting a record of 10-1-3 with a 2.35 goals against average and .918 save percentage. Levasseur has played in 51 career AHL games, posting a combined record of 17-23-5 with the Portland Pirates (07-08) and Iowa Chops (08-09).
12-14-09- The Springfield Falcons signed defenseman Jean-Francois David to a Professional Tryout Agreement (PTO). David is in his eighth season of professional hockey and has spent the 2009-10 campaign with the ECHL’s Elmira Jackals recording one goal and five assists for six points and 10 penalty minutes in 20 games. David has appeared in 53 career AHL games recording five goals and 15 assists for 20 points and 64 penalty minutes splitting time between the Binghamton Senators, Manitoba Moose, Hershey Bears and Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
Devils Transactions: 12-9-09- Left Wing Pierre-Luc Leblond was recalled on loan by the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. Leblond has played in five games for Lowell recording two assists.
12-11-09- The Lowell Devils announced that they have signed Defenseman Greg Flynn to an ATO (Amateur Tryout Agreement). Flynn has yet to play a game for Lowell.
12-12-09- Right Wing Kevin Cormier was assigned to the Lowell Devils from the ECHL’s Trenton Devils. Cormier has played in nine games this season for Lowell, collecting 17 PIM and no points in nine games.
12-13-09- Defenseman Matthew Corrente and Right Wing Vladimir Zharkov were returned on loan from the New Jersey Devils to the AHL’s Lowell Devils. One day later on December 14, both Corrente and Zharkov were recalled back up to the NHL and the New Jersey Devils. Corrente has played in 15 games for Lowell this season tallying three goals and eight assists. Zharkov has played in 22 games this year for Lowell recording six goals and 14 assists for his 20 points.
Falcons Team and Player Notes:
• The Falcons are 5-1-0-1 when leading after the first period. They are 7-0-0-1 when leading after two periods.
• Forward Ryan O’Marra is currently on a three-game road goal scoring streak (3 G).
Devils Team and Player Notes:
• The Devils have three rookies in the top 20 of the AHL in points recorded this season: Matt Taormina (7 G, 13 A, 20 P, 5th), Nathan Perkovich (8 G, 10 A, 18 P, 11th), and Nick Palmieri (7 G, 8 A, 15 P, 16th).
• Taormina leads all AHL defensemen with five power play goals scored this season.
• Lowell is 10-2-1 this season against the Atlantic Division, with the two losses in regulation coming against Springfield.
• Lowell has the AHL’s best power play team scoring 21.9% of the time this year.
Falcons Injury Report
• Chris Minard (Head) is listed as day-to-day. Minard has not played in a game since October 30 against Albany.
• Defenseman Chris Armstrong (Eye) is listed as out indefinitely. Armstrong recently had eye surgery and has not played a game since December 6 versus Adirondack.
• Defenseman Theo Peckham (Head) is also listed day-to-day after suffering an injury during a December 11 game against Bridgeport.
