FALCONS BEAT MONARCHS 5-3

By:  Sean Seifert

October 16, 2011 - The Springfield Falcons captured their first home win of the season Sunday afternoon, ousting a strong Manchester Monarchs team 5-3 in a hard-fought game at the MassMutual Center. Backed by a two-goal contribution from Ryan Russell and Danny Taylor’s season debut presence in net the Falcons put an end to Manchester’s two-game win streak and advanced their own record to 3-2-0.

The Falcons played a fired-up first period that got them into early penalty trouble, allowing the Monarchs to pick up two power play goals. Manchester’s Patrick Muzzin put one past Falcons' goaltender Taylor on the power play at 11:50 of the first. At 3:18 Manchester’s Andrei Loktionov scored on the power play to set the Falcons back by two.

Springfield answered the deficit late in the first when Cody Goloubef dished the puck to Dane Byers who lifted a shot past the glove of Manchester goaltender Jeff Zatkoff with 2:06 left on the clock. The Falcons leveled the score just 38 seconds later when center Martin St. Pierre found the back of the net off a Wade MacLeod setup. The fast-paced first period ended with the teams even at two apiece.

Falcons head coach Rob Riley says his team’s response in the first period said a lot. “The way we fought back speaks volumes to the leadership that we have,” said Riley.

The second period started shorthanded for the Falcons but a sprinting Russell weaved through the Monarchs defense to notch a shorthanded goal at 16:14, giving Springfield momentum with a 3-2 edge. Defenseman Dalton Prout built the Falcons lead sending a deep slapshot on frame, scoring his first goal as a Falcon with 3:24 left on the clock. Prout’s goal ended the period strongly, setting the Falcons up with a 4-2 lead heading into the last 20 minutes.

The Monarchs cut into their deficit at 12:24 of the third period when Loktionov knocked in a rebound for his second goal of the game. The Falcons regained control after two Monarchs went down at the blue line and Russell jumped on the loose puck for his second breakaway goal of the game at 8:35. The Falcons put on the pressure and held out for a confident 5-3 win at home.

Byers has three goals in his last four games and Taylor turned aside 38 of 41 Manchester shots in his season debut.

Riley saw Taylor’s performance as motivation for the rest of his players. “He (Taylor) was very confident in net and very composed. Guys rallied around him well when it was 2-2 and then we kind of took over,” said Riley.

The Falcons next contest falls on Friday, October 21, at the MassMutual Center against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for a 7:30 puck drop. The teams last met on October 14th when the Falcons earned their second win of the season with a 7-4 offensive outburst in Pennsylvania.