FALCONS FALL TO WORCESTER 8-4
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By: Mike Hopey
February 3, 2010 - The Worcester Sharks scored a season-high eight goals in an 8-4 win Wednesday night over the Springfield Falcons in front of 2,364 at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons attempted a comeback with a four goal second period which saw Springfield trailing the Sharks by only one goal heading into the third period. The Sharks received a hat trick from winger Dennis McCauley.
The Falcons entered the game having lost their last two games to the Providence Bruins by scores of 8-2 and 6-0. The Sharks had won 5 of their last 6 games, dropping their last game Sunday to Lowell 4-3 in overtime. The Sharks also held the edge in the season series with a 5-0-1-0 record against the Falcons.
The first period almost went by without any scoring. McCauley managed to break the draw for the Sharks at 16:18 when he redirected a shot from Louis Liotti past J.P. Levasseur for his first of the night. The Sharks increased their lead just 23-seconds later when Nick Petrecki took a shot that danced its way past Levasseur.
Kip Brennan dropped the gloves with Frazer McLaren for the first time on a face-off early in the first period. Both players scored a take down before they were separated by the officials and given major penalties.
The Falcons began the wild second period having trouble staying out of the penalty box early. Brennan went off for an elbowing call 1:03 into the period. The Falcons killed off the penalty, but Theo Peckham was called for a high-stick just 18-seconds after the first penalty ended. While Peckham was being taken to the penalty box, Brennan and McLaren squared off for a second time. Both players received five-minute majors for fighting. Brennan was also assessed a minor penalty for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct penalty. Also in the period, Peckham and Andrew Desjardins both received 10-minute misconducts at 12:02.
The Sharks were able to capitalize on the power-play goal from Benn Ferriero, who also had two assists. The Sharks stretched the lead to four with a 5-on-3 goal from Danny Groulx, his second point of the period and first goal of the game. The Falcons answered right back with goals from Jason Pitton, his first as a Falcon, and Liam Reddox, his 12th goal of the year. The Sharks seemed to squash the Falcons new-found momentum with a goal by T.J. Trevelyan at 18:17 of the second period, but the scoring wasn't finished.
The Falcons battled back to bring the game within one with a pair of power-play goals late in the middle period. Chad Wiseman took a centering pass from Colton Fretter to score his 14th goal of the season at 18:53 of the period. Later, Chris Minard roofed a back-hander past Alex Stalock with 10-seconds left in the frame for his 11th goal of the season to make the score 5-4 in Worcester's favor heading into the third period.
Worcester increased their lead to 6-4 with Groulx’s second power-play goal of the game at 6:00 of the final period. The Sharks iced the game when McCauley scored his second of the game at 13:23, followed by his third goal of the night at 16:34 of the final stamza to record his first career hat trick.
J.F. David recorded two assists and Charles Linglet increased his team lead with his 39th assist. Chris Armstrong also made his return to line-up for the Falcons. In total the Falcons and the Sharks combined for 76 penalty minutes in the game. Stalock picked up his 27th win of the season turning away 25 shots from the Falcons.
The Falcons will meet the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Friday at 7:30 at The Nest for their next game.
Three Stars of the Game:
1. WOR Dennis McCauley - 3 goals
2. WOR Danny Groulx - 2 goals, 2 assists
3. SPR Liam Reddox 1 goal, 1 assist
Springfield Falcons Lineup
Charles Linglet (7) - Chad Wiseman (15) - Colton Fretter (19)
Slava Trukhno (11) - Rob Hisey (13) - Chris Minard (14)
Liam Reddox (9) - Ryan O'Marra (22) - Colin McDonald (18)
Kip Brennan (26) - Geoff Paukovich (12) - Jason Pitton (39)
Chris Armstrong (32) - J.F. David
Theo Peckham (24) - Zach Tarkir (36)
Dean Arsene (29) - Jake Taylor (25)
J.P. Levasseur (31)
Bryan Pitton (35)
FALCONS SCRATCHES - Matt Nickerson (Injured), Johan Motin (Healthy), Ryan MacMurchy (Injured), Bryan Lerg (Healthy), Rick Cleaver (Healthy), Kelly Czuy (Injured), Sasha Pokulok (Healthy), Cody Wild (Healthy)
Game Night Notes ...
Game Setup: The mid-week match-up between the Falcons and the Sharks at the MassMutual Center will be the 7th meeting between the teams. Worcester holds a
5-0-1-0 edge in the season series. The last game, on January 13, was a 4-3 Falcons win in overtime.
In that game, Taylor Chorney netted the game winner in OT. Liam Reddox also added a goal and Rob Hisey had two goals for the Falcons. The Falcons enter the game having dropped their last game game, 6-0 in Providence. The Sharks also lost on Sunday when they fell to Lowell 4-3 in overtime.
The Sharks enter the game with a 29-14-2-2 record, which puts them 2nd in the Atlantic Division. The Sharks are also on a six-game points streak where they have gone
5-0-1-0. The Falcons are 5-5-0-0 in their last 10 games.
Falcons Player Notes:
• Colton Fretter is tied for 2nd in the AHL in power-play goals with 11.
• Charles Linglet has 16 assists on the power-play which ties him for 3rd in the league with three other players. He is also tied for 6th in the league in scoring with 49 points in 52 games.
• Slava Trukhno picked up two assists in Saturday night’s loss to Providence.
• J.P. Levasseur picked up the win in Springfield’s January 13 win over the Sharks.
Sharks Player Notes:
• Logan Couture has seven points (5G, 2A) against the Falcons this season.
• Mike Moore has recorded five assists in the season series.
• Steven Zalewski is 12th in the league in points with 45. He also has nine points in his last six games.
• Benn Ferriero had two goals in Sunday’s OT loss to Lowell.
• Rookie goalie Alex Stalock has won five of his last six starts. He also leads the entire AHL with 26 wins with a 2.55 GAA.
