MONARCHS DOWN FALCONS 4-1
By: Mike Hopey
February 12, 2010 - The Manchester Monarchs were fueled by two goals from Justin Azevedo and work-horse Jonathan Bernier made 33 saves as Springfield fell to Manchester 4-1 on Friday night in front of 3,352 fans at the MassMutual Center. Charles Linglet scored for the Falcons and Devan Dubnyk made 17 saves, after arriving just prior to the game from a brief stint in Edmonton.
The Monarchs took the lead at the 5 minute mark of the 1st period when Azevedo tipped his first goal of the game past Dubnyk. Azevedo collected his 2nd goal 54 seconds later on a Manchester power-play from Bud Holloway and David Kolomatis. Toward the end of the period the Falcons had a 24 second 5-on-3 man advantage, but could not slip the puck past Bernier. The Falcons tested the AHL leader in shutouts, but Bernier turned away all 16 shots in the period. Kevin Westgarth increased the Manchester lead to three when he beat Dubnyk stick side for his 9th goal of the season. The Monarchs added another power play goal when David Kolomatis scored 11 seconds into Chris Armstrong's penalty for holding. Holloway picked up his 3rd assist of the game on the goal. Linglet solved the Bernier puzzle when he snapped home his 13th goal of the season from the top of the circles. In the third, the Falcons had four power play opportunities, but could not manage to put another goal past Bernier who earned the win in his league-leading 41st appearance of the season. Overall, the Falcons went 0-8 on the man advantage. “Our lack of production on the power play was crucial. Not only did we not score, but we didn’t generate anything,” said coach Rob Daum. The Falcons will skate again tomorrow night against the Providence Bruins at 7:00 at The Nest. 3 Stars of the Game 1. MCH Justin Azevedo 2 goals, 1 assist
2. MCH Bud Holloway 3 assists
3. MCH Jonathan Bernier 33 saves
Springfield Falcons Lineup
Charles Linglet (7) - Chad Wiseman (15) - Chris Minard (14)
Slava Trukhno (11) - Rob Hisey (13) - Colton Fretter (19)
Liam Reddox (9) - Ryan O'Marra (22) - Colin McDonald (18)
Kip Brennan (26) - Geoff Paukovich (12) - Bryan Lerg (16)
Chris Armstrong (32) - Taylor Chorney (4)
Theo Peckham (24) - Alex Plante (21)
Dean Arsene (29) - Jake Taylor (25)
Devan Dubnyk (40)
J.P. Levasseur (31)
Falcons Scratches - J.F. David (Healthy), Matt Nickerson (Healthy), Johan Motin (Healthy), Ryan MacMurchy (Injured), Cody Wild (Healthy), Kelly Czuy (Healthy), Jason Pitton (Healthy), Sasha Pokulok (Healthy)
Pre-Game Night Notes ...
Game Set-up: The Springfield Falcons enter the game with 45 points on the season with a record of 17-27-9-2 while the Manchester Monarchs are 29-17-2-5 and stand in 2nd place in the Atlantic division. The Falcons are 1-3-0-1 against Manchester this season. The lone win came on October 16, a 4-1 decision at the MassMutual Center.
The Monarchs are 4-4-1-1 in their last 10 games, including a three game losing streak. The Monarchs dropped their last game 6-4 in regulation to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on the road. Bud Holloway had a goal and two assists for the Monarchs in the loss.
The Falcons are 4-5-1-0 in their last 10 games. In their last game on Saturday, the Falcons earned a point in a wild game against the Albany River Rats. Charles Linglet scored a goal and Liam Reddox scored two goals, including one with three seconds left in third period, to complete a last period comeback.
The Falcons begin a five day stretch where they play four games. They will play Providence at home on Saturday, in Bridgeport on Sunday afternoon, and then again back home on Tuesday against Worcester.
Falcons Player Notes:
• Charles Linglet has recorded 4 of his 41 assists on the season against Manchester. He is also 5th in the league in points with 53 on the season.
• Colton Fretter and Chad Wiseman have both scored 2 goals against the Monarchs in the season series. Fretter leads the team with 22 goals this year and Wiseman is second with 14 markers. Fretter is also 2nd in the league with 12 power-play goals.
• Fretter has seven points in his last six games.
• Kip Brennan has earned 49 penalty minutes in his last five games. Brennan leads the AHL in that category with 256 penalty minutes.
Monarchs Player Notes:
• Bud Holloway has scored 2 goals and recorded 4 assists against the Falcons this season. Holloway has notched 33 points on the year which puts him 2nd on the team.
• Goalie Jonathan Bernier has 21 wins this season and is 3rd in the league with a 2.10 goals against average. Bernier also has the most shutouts with six.
• Rookie Corey Elkins is 5th amongst AHL rookies with 35 points and leads the team.
• The Monarchs are 7th in the league with a 19.7 power play percentage. Manchester’s penalty kill is also 2nd with a 87.2 percentage.
Falcon Player Movement Recap:
On Monday, defensemen Alex Plante and Taylor Chorney were returned to the Falcons from their National Hockey League affiliate, the Edmonton Oilers. Plante was called up by the Oilers on February 1st and made his NHL debut against the Carolina Hurricanes. He played 4 games for the Oilers and recorded one assist. For the Falcons this season, Plante has played in 48 games, scoring 2 goals and recording 7 assists. Chorney has split equal time between Springfield and Edmonton. He has played 21 games for the Oilers and recorded one assist. With the Falcons, Chorney has played 23 games, notching 5 goals and 4 assists.
Zach Tarkir was released from his PTO on Tuesday. He played in 7 games for the Falcons and recorded one assist.
Also on Tuesday, Matt Nickerson, Kelly Czuy, and Cody Wild were reassigned to the Falcons’ ECHL affiliate, the Stockton Thunder. Nickerson played in 14 games for the Falcons scoring only one assist. Czuy returns to the Thunder where he has played 16 games this season scoring two goals and four assists. Wild played in 37 games for the Falcons this year and had 14 assists. Nickerson was added back on the Falcons roster on Friday.
Also earlier in the week, Devan Dubnyk and Bryan Pitton switched spots for the second time in a week. Dubnyk returned to the Oilers where he has appeared in 9 games with a 4.17 goals against average. During his most recent stop in Springfield, Dubnyk started against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and Albany River Rats. Dubnyk made 37 saves in the win over the Tigers. Pitton has yet to play for the Falcons this season, but was 9-9-0-3 for the Stockton Thunder this season.
Manchester Player Movement Recap:
On Wednesday, the Monarchs’ NHL affiliate, the Los Angles Kings, reassigned left wing Richard Clune to the Ontario Reign of the ECHL. Clune played in 41 games this season for Manchester and scored 3 goals and 9 assists.
