FALCONS FALL SHORT IN MANCHESTER
November 14, 2010 - The Springfield Falcons lost to the Manchester Monarchs 4-2 on Sunday afternoon at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH. The Monarchs used three third period goals to erase a 2-1 Falcons lead and rally for the victory. The Falcons will now get ready to host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Tuesday night at the MassMutual Center.
The Falcons penalty killing units had a very busy day as they were able to defend nine of 10 shorthanded situations, while the Falcons went 0-2 on the man advantage. Despite being shorthanded five times in the first period, it was the Falcons that had the lead after the opening frame as Matt Calvert scored a shorthanded marker at 12:07 of the first period.
"It was tough, you end up using a lot of the same guys to kill penalties and it caught up with us late in the game," said Falcons head coach Rob Riley. "Matt (Calvert) is a very good player, he was able to jump on a lose puck and made a nice play on his goal."
In the second period, the Falcons built a 2-0 lead when Ben Guite scored his second goal of the year at 8:02. At 11:39 of the second period, Manchester cut into their deficit when Bud Holloway converted making it a 2-1 Springfield lead after two periods.
In the third period, Manchester continued to end up with power play opportunities and at 10:18 of the final frame, Holloway scored his second marker of the game on the man advantage evening the score at 2-2. Manchester took their first lead of the game at 16:42 of the third period when Andrei Loktionov scored his second goal of the game putting the Monarchs on top 3-2.
With Gustaf Wesslau pulled for the extra attacker after stopping 37 of 40 shots, Manchester's Oscar Moller added an empty net goal ending the scoring for the night.
GAME NOTES
Matt Calvert extended his scoring streak to five games having collected five goals and two assists in that span.
FALCONS LINEUP
Matt Calvert - Ben Guite - Tomas Kubalik
Dane Byers - Mike Blunden - Maksim Mayorov
Nick Tarnasky - Trevor Frischmon - Steven Goertzen
Michael Ratchuk - Tyler Murovich
Grant Clitsome - Theo Ruth
John Moore - Nate Guenin
Nick Holden - David Savard
Jonathan Sigalet
Gustaf Wesslau
David LeNeveu
NOT DRESSED TONIGHT: Tomas Kana, Kyle Neuber, Tom Sestito, Cody Goloubef, Brent Regner, Michael Ryan
Springfield Falcons 2 at Manchester Monarchs 4 - Status: Final
Sunday, November 14, 2010 - Verizon Wireless Arena
Springfield 1 1 0 - 2
Manchester 0 1 3 - 4
1st Period-1, Springfield, Calvert 7 12:07 (SH). Penalties-Mayorov Spr (tripping), 0:29; Guite Spr (tripping), 1:05; Clitsome Spr (high-sticking), 11:48; Voynov Mch (holding), 12:40; Calvert Spr (hooking), 13:21; Guite Spr (holding), 16:24; Zeiler Mch (roughing), 16:24.
2nd Period-2, Springfield, Guite 2 (Moore, Calvert), 8:02. 3, Manchester, Holloway 3 (Hickey, Martinez), 11:39. Penalties-Kubalik Spr (boarding), 1:50; Campbell Mch (slashing), 5:48; Mayorov Spr (tripping), 9:35; Kubalik Spr (hooking), 12:34; Byers Spr (boarding), 18:30.
3rd Period-4, Manchester, Holloway 4 (Martinez, Mullen), 10:18 (PP). 5, Manchester, Loktionov 2 (Martinez, King), 16:42. 6, Manchester, Moller 1 (King, Voynov), 19:36 (EN). Penalties-Holden Spr (holding), 9:06; Blunden Spr (misconduct), 11:23; Harnden Mch (boarding), 11:23; Kaunisto Mch (misconduct), 11:23.
Shots on Goal-Springfield 5-8-5-18. Manchester 15-12-14-41.
Power Play Opportunities-Springfield 0 / 2; Manchester 1 / 9.
Goalies-Springfield, Wesslau 1-1-0 (40 shots-37 saves). Manchester, Zatkoff 5-5-1 (18 shots-16 saves).
A-3,509
Referees-David Banfield (44).
Linesmen-Jeremy Lovett (78), Landon Bathe (80).
PRE-GAME STORY
The Springfield Falcons and Manchester Monarchs meet for the third time this season when they play a 3 pm matinee at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH on Sunday. The Falcons and Monarchs have split the first two games of the season series with the road team winning each contest thus far. Springfield beat Manchester 3-1 back on October 17 only to see the Monarchs defeat the Falcons 3-1 on October 23.
The Falcons enter Sunday's action having earned at least a point in seven of their last nine games going 6-2-0-1 in that span. Springfield on the season has a record of 8-5-0-1 good for 17 points and second place in the Atlantic Division. Even though it's early in the season, Sunday's contest is a big game between two teams that are fighting for positioning in the standings. Springfield is one point ahead of Manchester in the standings, but the Falcons have one game in hand. If the Falcons can pull out a regulation win on Sunday, they could open up a three point lead on Manchester for second place with a game in hand.
Mike Blunden continues to help lead the Falcons offense this year as he scored the game-tying marker in the third period last night, his team-leading 8th goal of the year. Rookie Matt Calvert has moved into second on the club in goals with six. Calvert is on a four-game scoring streak with four goals and one assist in that span.
Tomas Kubalik has points in four of his last five games collecting one goal and three assists in that span. Kubalik is also a perfect two for two in the shootout this year.
The Falcons had two players make their debuts last night as Dane Byers and Nick Tarnasky made an impact on the Falcons lineup. Byers was acquired on Thursday by Columbus and in his first game against his former team, Byers collected one assist and scored the game-clinching marker in the shootout Saturday against Hartford.
Maksim Mayorov scored his fourth goal of the year on Saturday and added one assist in playing on a line with Blunden and Byers.
The Falcons continue to play a lot of close games and overall, four of Springfield's last six games have gone to overtime with three of the last four contests being decided in a shootout. The Falcons are 3-1 in the shootout this year and 1-0 in overtime for an overall record of 4-1 in the extra session.
The Monarchs head into Sunday's action looking to snap a three-game losing streak. Manchester has only scored four goals in their last three games, including a 3-1 loss against the Providence Bruins on home ice Saturday night.
Stay tuned for Sunday's lineup...
