SHARKS BLANK FALCONS 6-0 AT THE NEST
By: Mike Hopey
February 16, 2010- The Worcester Sharks scored six goals and got a 21 save effort from goalie Alex Stalock as they beat the Springfield Falcons for their seventh win over the Falcons this season on Tuesday night in front of 3,411 at the MassMutual Center. The Sharks scored three goals in the first nine minutes, which saw Falcons starter J.P. Levasseur taken out of the game for Devan Dubnyk.
“You never want to make that move and hope you’re never in that situation,” said head coach Rob Daum. “And it’s not always based on the goaltending, sometimes it’s just based on changing the momentum of the game by putting the other goaltender in the game.”
Worcester jumped on the board first with T.J. Trevelyan's 12th goal of the season 2:34 into the game. Cory Quirk took the shot from near the boards that Trevelyan tipped past Levasseur on the Sharks first shot of the game to pick up the assist on the play. The Sharks added to the lead with a power play goal off the stick of Steven Zalewski at 7:25.
Dwight Helminen scored the Sharks third goal in seven shots at 9:03 of the first period and chased Levasseur from the game who was replaced by Dubnyk.
The Falcons began the second period with a four minute power play because Sharks’ Andrew Desjardins was called for hooking and unsportsmanlike at the conclusion of the first period. Despite the extended man advantage, the Falcons only collected three shots and failed to score.
Liam Reddox had a short handed bid seven minutes into the period, but he lost his handle on the puck and went barreling over the Sharks goalie Stalock knocking the net off the pegs. Chris Minard had another chance for the Falcons, but his snap shot was gobbled up by the rookie Stalock.
Zalewski scored his second goal of the game on the power play when he snapped a shot over Dubnyk's shoulder for the unassisted goal at 10:18 of the period. The Falcons had another power play opportunity, but failed to score again. Theo Peckham tried to give the Falcons some life by dropping the gloves with the Sharks Dennis McCauley, but McCauley did not want to dance. As a result, Peckham received a minor penalty and and a 10-minute misconduct penalty.
Dubnyk made a couple of nice saves with the pads, but Jake Taylor was called for cross checking forcing the Falcons to kill off another Sharks’ power play. Stalock continued his solid play robbing Charles Linglet with the pad on a cross-ice one time opportunity.
About mid-way through the final period, McCauley snuck a shot past Dubnyk to make Worcester's lead 5-0.
Brandon Mashinter added his own goal at 12:05 of the third period when his shot from Desjardins and Dan DaSilva deflected off the bottom of Dubnyk’s catching glove and into the net. The goal was Mashinter’s 16th of the season and increased the Sharks lead to 6-0.
The Falcons will skate again this weekend for a pair of road games against the Norfolk Admirals in Virginia on Friday and Saturday.
3 Stars of the Game
1. WOR Alex Stalock, 21 saves
2. WOR Steven Zalewski, 2 power-play goals
3. WOR Benn Ferriero, 2 assists
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)
Jason Pitton (39) - Geoff Paukovich (12) - Bryan Lerg (16)
Chris Armstrong (32) - Taylor Chorney (4)
Theo Peckham (24) - Johan Motin (8)
Dean Arsene (29) - Jake Taylor (25)
J.P. Levasseur (31)
Devan Dubnyk (40)
FALCONS SCRATCHES - J.F. David (Healthy), Matt Nickerson (Healthy), Ryan MacMurch (Injured), Alex Plante (Injured), Kip Brennan (Injured), Sasha Pokulok (Healthy)
Pre-Game Night Notes...
Game Setup: The Springfield Falcons will skate against the Atlantic Division leading Worcester Sharks for the 8th time this season on Tuesday night at the MassMutual Center. The last meeting between the Falcons and Sharks was on February 3 with the Sharks winning 8-4. The Falcons scored four goals in the middle frame to erase a 4-0 deficit, but could not continue the momentum into the third.
The Falcons are coming off a nice 4-0 win on Sunday in Bridgeport. J.P. Levasseur made 49 saves, five shy of the team record for most saves in a game, for his first shutout of the season. The Falcons also received goals from Rob Hisey, Slava Trukhno, Colin McDonald and Charles Linglet in the win.
The Sharks are 7-2-1-0 in their last 10 games including a current two game winning streak. Over the weekend, the Sharks won a pair of games on the road. On Friday they defeated the Bridgeport Sound Tigers by a score of 6-1 and on Valentine’s Day they downed the Manchester Monarchs 5-2 in New Hampshire.
Falcons Player Notes
• Charles Linglet has 8 points this season against the Sharks. He also has recorded three goals in his last four games. Linglet is 4th in the AHL with 56 points. Linglet is currently on a four-game scoring streak having collected three goals and two assists in that span. Linglet remains fourth in the league in scoring with 14 goals and 42 assists for 56 points in 58 games. Linglet also remains the only Falcons player to have played in all 58 games this year. Linglet is only behind Keith Aucoin and Jason Krog for the league lead in assists.
• Colton Fretter leads the Falcons with 22 goals, 12 on the power play. He has scored three of those goals in addition to three assists against the Sharks this season.
• Devan Dubnyk has a 1.94 goals against average and .950 save percentage vs. the Sharks this season.
• Goaltender J.P. Levasseur was the game's first star on Sunday stopping all 49 shots at Bridgeport in a 4-0 Falcons' win. Levasseur was just five saves shy of tying David LeNeveu and Gerald Coleman for the Falcons record for most saves in a game with 54. Since January 13, Levasseur has won six of his nine starts in that span.
• The Falcons have recorded 34 or more shots in five straight games and they also outshot teams for four straight games from February 5-13, their longest stretch of the year for outshooting opponents.
• Dean Arsene has collected at least a point in three of his last four games.
Sharks Player Notes
• Rookie Logan Couture is second on the team with 45 points. His 45 points places him second among AHL rookies. Couture has netted five goals and notched a pair of assists against the Falcons this season.
• Benn Ferriero leads the all scorers in the season series with nine points in the seven previous meetings.
• Rookie goalie Alex Stalock leads the AHL in wins with 29 on the season. Stalock has a 2.58 goals against average and .906 save percentage.
