FALCONS CONCLUDE HOME SCHEDULE
April 9, 2011 - The Springfield Falcons lost to the Providence Bruins 3-2 in their 2010-11 home season finale at the MassMutual Center on Saturday night. The Falcons received goals from Cam Atkinson and Maksim Mayorov. The team will conclude trheir season on Sunday afternoon in Portland, Maine.
After a scoreless first period, the night started out well for the Falcons as Mayorov scored his 19th goal of the year at 10:03 of the second period assisted by Nikita Filatov and Anton Blomqvist giving the Falcons a 1-0 lead. For Mayorov, it set a new career high for goals in a season.
With the Falcons holding onto a one goal advantage with the help from several key saves from goaltender David LeNeveu, the Bruins finally found the equalizer when Andrew Bodnarchuk scored his first goal of the year with just eight seconds remaining in the middle period.
Providence continued their momentum into the third period as Ryan Spooner scored his first marker of the year at 4:54 of the final frame giving the Bruins their first lead at 2-1. The Falcons rallied back and tied the score at 2-2 when Atkinson scored his third goal of the year assisted by Ben Guite at 15:04 of the third period, but just 49-seconds after Atkinson's goal, Kyle MacKinnon scored the game-winner for the Bruins.
Late in the third period, Springfield's Denny Kearney and Providence's Adam Estoclet dropped the gloves with the two players earning fighting majors.
TONIGHT'S LINEUP
Wade MacLeod - Trevor Smith - Tomas Kubalik
Denny Kearney - Ben Guite - Cam Atkinson
Maksim Mayorov - Trevor Frischmon - Nikita Filatov
Aaron Bogosian - Greg Moore - Nick Tarnasky
John Moore - David Savard
Jonathan Sigalet - Brent Regner
Anton Blomqvist - Theo Ruth
David LeNeveu
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), Steven Goertzen, Gustaf Wesslau, Tomas Kana, Kyle Neuber, Allen York
Providence Bruins 3 at Springfield Falcons 2 - Status: Final
Saturday, April 9, 2011 - MassMutual Center
Providence 0 1 2 - 3
Springfield 0 1 1 - 2
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Kampfer Pro (interference), 3:16.
2nd Period-1, Springfield, Mayorov 19 (Filatov, Blomqvist), 10:03. 2, Providence, Bodnarchuk 1 (Laliberte, Hamill), 19:52. Penalties-Moore Spr (tripping), 14:37.
3rd Period-3, Providence, Spooner 1 (Knight, Button), 4:54. 4, Springfield, Atkinson 3 (Guite), 15:04. 5, Providence, MacKinnon 1 (Camper), 15:53. Penalties-Estoclet Pro (fighting), 13:51; Kearney Spr (fighting), 13:51; Moore Spr (roughing), 14:05; Arniel Pro (holding), 14:47.
Shots on Goal-Providence 9-4-14-27. Springfield 8-12-12-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 0 / 2; Springfield 0 / 2.
Goalies-Providence, Hutchinson 12-10-1 (32 shots-30 saves). Springfield, LeNeveu 16-21-2 (27 shots-24 saves).
A-5,723
Referees-Chris Brown (86), Jamie Koharski (84).
Linesmen-Chris Low (88), Rich Patry (52).
PRE-GAME NOTES
The Springfield Falcons host their final home game of the 2010-11 season on Saturday evening as their Atlantic Division rival, the Providence Bruins come into town. Springfield is 5-4 this year against the Bruins, including their last meeting, which saw the Falcons put up eight goals in an 8-2 win in Springfield.
Defensemen lead the way in scoring for the Falcons this year against Providence. Nick Holden, David Savard, and former Bruin Jonathan Sigalet have all recorded six assists respectively against Providence. Trevor Smith scored twice for Springfield on February 12th in his only game against the Bruins this season.
Maxime Sauve has competed in nine games against the Falcons this season. Sauve has six goals and one assist, good for seven points versus Springfield this year. Bruins forward Jamie Arniel has three goals and two assists in nine games against Springfield this season, including a goal in their last meeting.
KUBALIK RETURNS FROM COLUMBUS: On Thursday, Columbus assigned right wing Tomas Kubalik back to the Falcons. Kubalik was back in the lineup for the Falcons on Friday and he scored his 23rd goal of the year, tying him with Jeff Taffe for the third most goals in a season by a Falcons rookie. He has registered 23 goals and 29 assists for 52 points and 43 penalty minutes in 74 games for Springfield, ranking fourth among AHL rookies in scoring.
Kubalik, 20, collected two assists for two points in three games with the Blue Jackets after being added to the roster on emergency recall March 31. He became just the third player in franchise history to record a multi-point game while making his NHL debut with the club when he had two assists at Washington on March 31.
The Blue Jackets’ sixth pick, 135th overall in the 2008 Entry Draft, he is playing his first professional season and leads the Falcons in goals, points and power play goals (6), while ranking second (tied) in assists.
LENEVEU BACK WITH FALCONS: The Blue Jackets assigned goaltender David LeNeveu back to the Falcons on Thursday.
LeNeveu, 27, appeared in one game for Columbus after being added to the roster on emergency recall on April 1. He stopped 10-of-12 shots in relief of Mathieu Garon against St. Louis on April 3. He has gone 16-20-2 with a 2.97 goals-against average and .896 save percentage in 41 games with the Falcons this season. He has a record of 103-136-23 with a 2.84 GAA, .908 SV% and seven shutouts in 272 career AHL games with Springfield, Utah, San Antonio, Hartford and Iowa.
He appeared in 67 games for Salzburg of the Austrian League in 2009-10, posting a 2.58 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and two shutouts. He was 6-2 with a 2.17 GAA in nine playoff games to lead Salzburg to the Austrian Championship. He signed with the Blue Jackets as a free agent on July 7, 2010.
FALCONS BLANK DEVILS 6-0: The Falcons used a 30-save shutout from rookie goaltender Allen York and a two-goal night from captain Ben Guite to cruise to a 6-0 win over the Albany Devils at the MassMutual Center on Friday night. The Falcons have now won three of their last four games.
York has now won three of his first four starts as a pro since concluding his collegiate career with R.P.I. last month. York is undefeated at the MassMutual Center going a perfect 3-0 in his first three starts on home ice. York now has a 2.04 goals against average and .926 save percentage in four games this year.
Guite helped set the tone offensively for the Falcons as he opened the scoring with his 16th goal of the year at 14:58 of the first period giving Springfield a one-goal lead through 20 minutes.
The Falcons took complete control of the game in the second period when they scored three times in a span of just over four minutes. David Savard gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead when he riffled his 11th goal of the year at 9:15 of the middle frame, followed by Guite adding his second marker of the night at 12:35 of the second period expanding the Falcons' advantage to 3-0. Less than a minute later, Tomas Kubalik scored his 23rd goal of the year tying him with Jeff Taffe for the third most goals in a season by a Falcons rookie.
Late in the second period, Falcons rookie Aaron Bogosian and Albany's Brad Mills dropped the gloves with each player earning a fighting major.
In the third period, the Falcons kept their foot on the gas pedal as Trevor Smith converted on the power play just 4:42 into the final frame giving Springfield a 5-0 lead. With the Falcons holding onto a five goal cushion, Springfield's Kyle Neuber and Albany's Pierre-Luc Leblond exchanged some words with Leblond picking up an extra slashing penalty and a misconduct.
Nick Tarnasky added one more late goal for the Falcons, who have now scored 12 goals in their last two home games heading into Saturday night.
The Falcons played Friday's game without rookie Cam Atkinson, who was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, and was at the ceremony at the Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minnesota. Boston Bruins
BRUINS SIGN CAMPER: The Providence Bruins announced Thursday that the Boston Bruins signed free agent forward Carter Camper to an entry-level contract. Camper recently finished his senior season at Miami University (CCHA). The 22-year-old played in 39 games for the Redhawks, tallying 19 goals and 38 assists for 57 points with 27 PIM. He finished second on the team in scoring, and his nine power play goals led the team. This season, he was named CCHA Scholar-Athlete of the Year and helped guide Miami to a 23-10-6 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
In 156 career collegiate games, Camper had 69-114=183 totals. The 5'9", 173-lb native of Rocky River, Ohio finished his career second on Miami's all-time points list and assists list. In his four years at Miami, the RedHawks made four NCAA Tournament appearances, two trips to the Frozen
Four (2009 and 2010) and lost to Boston University in the 2009 National Championship. Before Miami, he played for the Lincoln Stars of the USHL.
