FALCONS FALL IN BRIDGEPORT
April 5, 2011 - For the second time this season, the Springfield Falcons headed to Bridgeport, CT for a special 11 am starting time and for the second time this year, the Sound Tigers used a hat trick from one of their forwards to entertain the school day crowd. Rhett Rakhshani scored three times in leading the Sound Tigers to a 6-2 win over the Falcons in front of 4,622 at Webster Bank Arena. Rakhshani matched Jon Sim's three goal effort back on November 3 in helping Bridgeport to victory.
The two teams came out for the early start and played a very even first period with the Falcons' Maksim Mayorov recording the game's first scoring chance less than three minutes into the opening frame. After the two teams exchanged power play chances, Bridgeport's Justin DiBenedetto opened the scoring on the man advantage with his 19th goal of the year at 8:01 of the first period.
In the second period, Bridgeport expanded their lead to 2-0 when Joe Pereira scored his first pro goal at 2:33 of the middle frame, but Springfield's Greg Moore cut the Falcons' deficit to 2-1 when he knocked home a pass from Denny Kearney at 6:38 of the second period.
Following Moore's goal, the Sound Tigers wasted no time answering right back as Rakhshani added his first marker of the night just five seconds after Moore's goal for Springfield. Rakhshani recorded a natural hat trick in span of just 1:59 to give the Sound Tigers a 5-1 lead through 40 minutes of play.
In the third period, Bridgeport built a 6-1 advantage when Tyler McNeely converted just 17-seconds into the final period, but Springfield's Trevor Smith scored his 19th marker of the campaign at 3:57 of the third period assisted by Brent Regner.
Falcons goaltender Allen York started the game stopping 15 of 18 shots through 26-minutes of action. Paul Dainton came into the game in relief of York and turned aside 11 of 14 shots in 33 minutes.
TONIGHT'S LINEUP
Wade MacLeod - Trevor Smith - Nikita Filatov
Cam Atkinson - Ben Guite - Maksim Mayorov
Nick Tarnasky- Trevor Frischmon - Steven Goertzen
Denny Kearney - Greg Moore - Aaron Bogosian
John Moore - David Savard
Jonathan Sigalet - Brent Regner
Anton Blomqvist - Theo Ruth
Allen York
Paul Dainton
NOT IN THE LINEUP - Petr Kalus, Chris D'Alvise (Injured), Mike Commodore, Cody Goloubef (Injured), Kyle Wilson (Injured), Nick Holden (Injured), Mike Blunden (Injured), Kyle Neuber, Gustaf Wesslau, Tomas Kana
Springfield Falcons 2 at Bridgeport Sound Tigers 6 - Status: Final
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 - Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard
Springfield 0 1 1 - 2
Bridgeport 1 4 1 - 6
1st Period-1, Bridgeport, DiBenedetto 19 (Bidlevskii, Romano), 8:01 (PP). Penalties-Moore Spr (slashing), 6:23; Hisey Bri (hooking), 11:14; Colliton Bri (interference), 17:13; Sigalet Spr (slashing), 20:00.
2nd Period-2, Bridgeport, Pereira 1 (Hisey, Day), 2:33. 3, Springfield, Moore 9 (Kearney, Bogosian), 6:38. 4, Bridgeport, Rakhshani 22 (Colliton, McNeely), 6:43. 5, Bridgeport, Rakhshani 23 (McNeely, Colliton), 7:04. 6, Bridgeport, Rakhshani 24 (Hisey, Colliton), 8:42 (PP). Penalties-Ruth Spr (slashing), 8:30; Romano Bri (unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:53.
3rd Period-7, Bridgeport, McNeely 3 (Olson, Colliton), 0:17. 8, Springfield, Smith 19 (Regner), 3:57. Penalties-Guite Spr (boarding), 0:28; Blomqvist Spr (tripping), 1:40; Guite Spr (fighting), 5:18; Bidlevskii Bri (fighting), 5:18; Donovan Bri (delay of game), 8:37; MacLeod Spr (tripping), 15:24; Neigum Bri (roughing), 19:48.
Shots on Goal-Springfield 10-6-10-26. Bridgeport 13-9-10-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Springfield 0 / 5; Bridgeport 2 / 6.
Goalies-Springfield, York 2-1-0 (18 shots-15 saves); Dainton 1-2-0 (14 shots-11 saves). Bridgeport, Koskinen 11-20-1 (26 shots-24 saves).
A-4,622
Referees-Geno Binda (22).
Linesmen-Brent Colby (7), Paul Simeon (66).
PRE-GAME NOTES: Rookie Cam Atkinson made his professional debut against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers last Friday night. Atkinson assisted on the game-tying goal, and ended his impressive debut by scoring the game-winning goal with less than five minutes to go in the third period. Atkinson would later be named the game's first star. Allen York also made his pro debut between the pipes last Friday. York stopped 14 of 16 shots on his way to his first career win versus Bridgeport. Trevor Frischmon leads the Falcons in scoring against the Sound Tigers with seven assists in nine games. David Savard has two goals and four assists, good for six points in eight games against Bridgeport. Savard brings a six-game point streak into the game, tallying up three goals and eight assists.
Rhett Rakhshani is the Sound Tigers leading scorer. Rakhshani has put up 21 goals and 38 assists for 59 points and leads the league in rookie scoring in his first season in the AHL. He has two goals and nine assists in just six games against the Springfield Falcons, including an assist on Friday April 1st in Springfield. Justin DiBenedetto has five goals and two assists in just five games against the Falcons.
Rookie goalie Allen York, who was signed to an ATO on 3-30-11, made his AHL debut on 4-1-11 saving 14 of 16 shots as Springfield went on to win 3-2 against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. York added a second win on Saturday night and has a 2-0 professional record with 2.00 GAA and a .913 save percentage.
David Savard is currently in the midst of a six-game point streak going into the week, tallying up three goals and eight assists. He leads all Falcons defensemen in scoring this season with eight goals and 25 assists in 66 games.
Denny Kearney, who signed an ATO with Springfield on 3-31-11, has one goal and two assists in two games as a member of the Falcons.
The Falcons have begun the month of April with a 2-0 record.
