FALCONS BEAT SOUND TIGERS 5-3
December 3, 2010 - The Springfield Falcons rallied from an early first period deficit and beat the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 5-3 in front of an energetic 3,326 at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons improved their record to 12-11-0-2 as they head to Manchester on Saturday.
Nick Tarnasky's third period goal just 1:55 into the third period snapped a 3-3 deadlock and gave the Falcons a well-deserved two points. Jay Pandolfo tallied his first goal as a Falcon on the power play midway through the final stanza adding insurance to a Falcons victory.
The Falcons used a strong second period erasing a 2-0 deficit with three straight goals. Grant Clitsome scored just 39-seconds into the second period cutting their deficit to 2-1, followed by Theo Ruth's first pro goal at 2:51 into the middle stanza evening the score at 2-2. The Falcons took their first lead of the night at 15:27 of the second period when Matt Calvert tallied his team-leading 10th marker of the year giving the Falcons a 3-2 advantage.
The night didn't start out perfect for the Falcons as they spent a good portion of the first period trying to defend Bridgeport power plays. Rhett Rakhshani scored at 6:27 of the opening period on a five-on-three, followed by Jeremy Colliton scoring also on a two-man advantage giving the Sound Tigers a 2-0 lead in the opening period.
The game featured some physical play as Tom Sestito dropped the gloves with Wes O'Neil in the first period, while Tarnasky went toe-to-toe with Micheal Haley in the second period.
GAME NOTES
Tom Sestito returned to the lineup after missing 10 games due to injury.
FALCONS LINEUP
Matt Calvert - Chris D'Alvise - Tomas Kubalik
Dane Byers - Trevor Frischmon - Nick Tarnasky
Jay Pandolfo - Mike Blunden - Tom Sestito
Maksim Mayorov - Tyler Murovich - Brent Regner
Grant Clitsome - Theo Ruth
David Savard - John Moore
Jonathan Sigalet - Nick Holden
David LeNeveu
Gustaf Wesslau
NOT DRESSED TONIGHT: Cody Goloubef, Ben Guite, Steven Goertzen, Tomas Kana, Kyle Neuber, Michael Ratchuk, Nate Guenin
Bridgeport Sound Tigers 3 at Springfield Falcons 5 - Status: Final
Friday, December 3, 2010 - MassMutual Center
Bridgeport 2 1 0 - 3
Springfield 0 3 2 - 5
1st Period-1, Bridgeport, Rakhshani 8 (Colliton, Bailey), 6:27 (PP). 2, Bridgeport, Colliton 3 (Rakhshani, Bailey), 10:50 (PP). Penalties-Sigalet Spr (delay of game), 5:58; Ruth Spr (holding), 6:12; O'Neill Bri (fighting), 9:03; Sestito Spr (boarding, fighting), 9:03; Holden Spr (holding), 10:03; Blunden Spr (slashing), 15:11; Wotton Bri (slashing), 18:35.
2nd Period-3, Springfield, Clitsome 2 (Pandolfo, Sestito), 0:39. 4, Springfield, Ruth 1 (Byers, Frischmon), 2:51. 5, Springfield, Calvert 10 (D'Alvise, Sigalet), 15:27. 6, Bridgeport, Figren 8 (Haley, Marcinko), 18:24. Penalties-Labelle Bri (diving), 8:16; Clitsome Spr (cross-checking), 8:16; Haley Bri (fighting), 10:45; Tarnasky Spr (fighting), 10:45.
3rd Period-7, Springfield, Tarnasky 4 (Holden, Frischmon), 1:55. 8, Springfield, Pandolfo 1 (Clitsome, Sigalet), 7:27 (PP). Penalties-Marcinko Bri (tripping), 6:47.
Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 12-10-5-27. Springfield 11-11-8-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 2 / 5; Springfield 1 / 2.
Goalies-Bridgeport, Koskinen 3-6-0 (30 shots-25 saves). Springfield, LeNeveu 8-6-1 (27 shots-24 saves).
A-3,326
Referees-Chris Brown (86).
Linesmen-Frank Murphy (29), Robert St. Lawrence (10).
PRE-GAME NOTES………….
GAME SETUP: The Springfield Falcons and Bridgeport Sound Tigers meet for the third time this season when they get together on Friday night at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons are 1-0-0-1 against Bridgeport this year beating the Sound Tigers by a score of 4-3 back on November 16 at The Nest. Springfield lost to the Sound Tigers in a shootout in the first meeting on November 3, 6-5.
The Falcons are 11-11-0-1 through 23 games this season good for 23 points and fourth place in the Atlantic Division standings. The Falcons start December with two of three games at home this weekend. The Falcons and Sound Tigers will meet each other three times in December starting Friday.
Bridgeport enters Friday’s action with a record of 10-11-1-1 good for 22 points, one point behind the Falcons in the Atlantic Division standings. The Sound Tigers have been on a hot streak as of late collecting a point in five straight games going 3-0-1-1 in that span.
Tomas Kubalik leads the Falcons in scoring against the Sound Tigers with two goals and three assists for five points in two games, including a four-point effort (2g,2a) on November 16. Matt Calvert leads Springfield in goals against Bridgeport with three, including his first career two-goal game on November 3. Nate Guenin is tied with Kubalik for most assists against the Sound Tigers with three.
Bridgeport’s Rhett Rakhshani leads the Tigers in scoring against the Falcons with four assists in two games. Jon Sim, who is currently on recall to the New York Islanders, has three goals against the Falcons this year while the remainder of the team has five goals in two games. Anton Klementyev, David Ullstrom, Justin DiBenedetto, Robin Figren and Brett Motherwell have all scored against Springfield this season.
Rookie Matt Calvert had himself a very impressive month of November collecting seven goals and five assists for 12 points in 13 games. Calvert collected at least a point in 10 of the 13 games including a seven-game scoring streak from November 3-19….Rookie Tomas Kubalik collected seven goals and five assists for 12 points in 12 games during the month of November. Kubalik recorded at least a point in eight of the 12 games and he posted a pair of two-goal games during November. Kubalik collected a four point night on November 16 against Bridgeport.
The Falcons have two players in the top seven in rookie scoring in the AHL. Matt Calvert is tied for third with nine goals and eight assists for 17 points in 23 games, while Tomas Kubalik is seventh with nine goals and six assists for 15 points in 22 games. Calvert and Kubalik are tied with Mike Blunden for the team lead in goals with nine.
Falcons captain Ben Guite collected three goals and six assists for nine points in 13 games in November. Guite was named captain on November 10….Maksim Mayorov recorded five goals and four assists for nine points in 12 games in November.
SOUND TIGERS PLAYER NOTES: Rhett Rakhshani has points in three of his last four games collecting two goals and two assists in that span….Chris Blight has two goals and one assist in his last two games played…. David Ullstrom has one goal and two assists in his last two games….Goaltender Kevin Poulin recorded his second shutout of the season on November 28 when he blanked the Norfolk Admirals 3-0 stopping 40 shots. Poulin leads all Bridgeport netminders in games played (9), wins (6), goals against average (1.98) and save percentage (.939). Poulin is currently eighth in the AHL in goals against average.
