POTULNY TIES FALCONS RECORD WITH 4 GOALS
February 24, 2008 - The Springfield Falcons beat the Worcester Sharks 7-4 on Sunday night at the DCU Center. Newly acquired forward Grant Potulny tied a Falcons franchise record for most goals in a single game scoring four goals and leading Springfield to victory. Potulny joins Daniel Briere as the only two Falcons players to score four markers in a single game.The Falcons opened the scoring at 4:58 of the first period when Marc Pouliot scored his 19th marker giving Springfield a 1-0 lead. Worcester tied the score at 1-1 when Devan Setoguchi tallied on the power play at 9:11 of the first period, but the Falcons regained their advantage just 10-seconds later when Potulny scored his first goal as a member of the Falcons.
"Grant adds a lot to our lineup, he is a very skilled player and he is a true professional," said Falcons head coach Kelly Buchberger. "The line of Potulny, O'Marra and Reddox seemed to find some chemistry tonight and they had a good night."
Potulny gave Springfield a 3-1 lead when he scored his second marker of the game at 6:54 of the second period on the power play. Potulny finished off the natural hat trick at 15:31 of the middle period extending Springfield's lead to 4-1. Mike Iggulden cut the Sharks deficit to 4-2 at 15:59 of the second period, but the Falcons took a 5-2 lead when Liam Reddox converted on a shorthanded breakaway with just 41-seconds remaining in the second period.
After Graham Mink pulled Worcester to within 5-3 at 4:23 of the third period, Potulny tallied his fourth marker of the game at 9:04 of the final frame giving Springfield a 6-3 lead. Colin McDonald and Dan Spang traded goals late in the third period capping off the scoring.
GAME NOTES
Liam Reddox finished with one goal and three assists.
Marc Pouliot ended the night with one goal and two assists.
It was Potulny's second four-goal game of his career.
After Graham Mink pulled Worcester to within 5-3 at 4:23 of the third period, Potulny tallied his fourth marker of the game at 9:04 of the final frame giving Springfield a 6-3 lead. Colin McDonald and Dan Spang traded goals late in the third period capping off the scoring.
GAME NOTES
Liam Reddox finished with one goal and three assists.
Marc Pouliot ended the night with one goal and two assists.
It was Potulny's second four-goal game of his career.
FALCONS LINEUP
Schremp - Pouliot - Werner
Potulny - O'Marra - Reddox
Trukhno - Sestito - McDonald
Simon - Goulet
Kemp - Young
Peckham - Gabinet
Berry - Murray
Deslauriers
Dubnyk
FALCONS SCRATCHES - T.J. Reynolds (Injured), Tyler Spurgeon (Injured), Brad Farynuk (Injured), Les Reaney (Healthy), Troy Bodie (Healthy), Sebastien Bisaillon (Injured), Jean-Francois Jacques (Injured), Allan Rourke (Injured), Jacob Micflikier (Injured), Jonas Almtorp (Healthy)
PRE-GAME NOTES
In a rare 8:00 pm start on a Sunday, the Springfield Falcons boarded their bus this afternoon and headed East on the MassPike to battle intra-state rival, the Worcester Sharks. The Falcons haven't traveled to Worcester, just a 40-minute voyage, since November 12.
The Falcons are 0-1-1-2 against the Sharks this season with three of the four meetings either going to the shootout or overtime. The only meeting in Worcester this season ended with the Sharks winning in the shootout by a score of 2-1 after Sebastien Bisaillon sent the game to the extra session with a late third period goal.
Springfield will be looking to rebound from a 4-1 loss suffered against the Providence Bruins on Saturday night at the MassMutual Center. The Sharks also were defeated on home ice last night as they fell to the Portland Pirates by a score of 6-1. Springfield currently leads sixth-place Worcester by 11 points in the Atlantic Division standings and Sunday's contest begins back-to-back games between the Falcons and Sharks as Springfield heads right back to Worcester on Wednesday night.
"This is an important game, but all the games are important this time of year," said Falcons head coach Kelly Buchberger. "The great thing about the schedule sometimes is you can come back the very next day and try and bounce back and that's the opportunity we have today."
The Falcons continue to try and get healthy as defenseman Allan Rourke missed the third period of Saturday's contest due to injury and is day-to-day. Captain Rick Berry returned on Friday for the Falcons after missing 10 games due to injury and Tim Sestito also played Saturday after missing a pair of games with a lower body injury. Depending how the lineup plays out leading up to game time, defenseman Chris Murray, who signed a Professional Tryout Agreement on February 16 with the Falcons, may have a chance to make his Falcons debut on Sunday. On the blueline for the Falcons, T.J. Reynolds and Bisaillon remain on the injured list, while Brad Farynuk continues to recover from a lower body injury suffered in practice last week.
Between the pipes, Devan Dubnyk has started the last four games for Springfield and who gets the start today will also be a game time decision.
Stay tuned for Sunday's lineup....
