FALCONS BEAT MONARCHS 2-1

October 26, 2011 - The Springfield Falcons headed to Manchester, NH looking to get back on the winning track and they accomplished their goal beating the Monarchs 2-1 at the Verizon Wireless Arena.  The Falcons used goals from Ray Macias and Martin St. Pierre, while goaltender Danny Taylor continued his strong play against Manchester stopping 32 shots and earning the game's second star.  The Falcons now get ready to host the Hershey Bears on Friday at the MassMutual Center.

RILEY RECAP AUDIO

BYERS RECAP AUDIO

"This was a complete team win tonight," said Falcons head coach Rob Riley, who saw his team improve their record to 4-5.  "We had great goaltending again from Danny (Taylor), we were able to kill off some penalties and overall we found a way to get a needed win."

Taylor saved his best saves for the game's final minutes when he turned aside several shots during a goal-mouth scramble during the final ticks of the game clock.  Taylor turned aside all 18 third period shots from Manchester and earned his second victory of the year.  Dating back to last year, the last three wins for Taylor in a Falcons' uniform have come against his former team, Manchester.

"We certainly knew Danny's success against Manchester and he was there for us again," said Riley.  "He has given us a chance in every game he has played this year, he was very good for us."

It didn't take the Falcons very long to build some momentum in this contest as Ray Macias scored just 3:37 into the opening period giving Springfield a 1-0 lead.  It was Macias' first goal of the year and it started a strong first period for the Falcons in which they outshout Manchester 12-4 and carried the play in the opening frame.

"When you are looking to get back in the win column, you have to go back to basics," said Dane Byers, who was named team captain earlier in the day.  "We played a solid first period and overall, we did a good job as a team getting the job done."

Early in the second period, the Falcons expanded their advantage when Martin St. Pierre tallied his fourth goal of the year just 48-seconds into the middle frame giving Springfield a 2-0 lead.

Manchester cut their deficit to 2-1 at the 7:00 mark of the second period when Jordan Nolan recorded his second marker of the year.

The Falcons used some strong penalty killing down the stretch to hold on to their one-goal lead and overall for the night, the Falcons were 4-4 on the penalty kill.

GAME NOTES

Columbus Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson was in attendance.

David Savard joined the Falcons in Manchester, but it appears he will go right back to Columbus.

Manchester has lost five straight games for the first time in their franchise history.

Dane Byers was named captain of the Falcons earlier in the day.

Springfield Falcons 2 at Manchester Monarchs 1 - Status: Final
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - Verizon Wireless Arena

Springfield 1 1 0 - 2
Manchester 0 1 0 - 1

1st Period-1, Springfield, Macias 1 (Drazenovic, Regner), 3:37. Penalties-Kozun Mch (elbowing), 2:29; Atkinson Spr (holding), 2:56; Nolan Mch (slashing), 6:06; Azevedo Mch (delay of game), 13:29.

2nd Period-2, Springfield, St. Pierre 4 (MacLeod, Goloubef), 0:48. 3, Manchester, Nolan 2   7:00. Penalties-St. Pierre Spr (hooking), 8:02; Savard Spr (slashing), 9:23; Loktionov Mch (hooking), 12:27.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Kaunisto Mch (tripping), 3:08; Drazenovic Spr (interference), 7:16; Clune Mch (diving), 7:16; MacLeod Spr (tripping), 19:23.

Shots on Goal-Springfield 12-10-1-23. Manchester 4-11-18-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Springfield 0 / 5; Manchester 0 / 4.
Goalies-Springfield, Taylor 2-1-0 (33 shots-32 saves). Manchester, Jones 3-4-0 (23 shots-21 saves).
A-3,103
Referees-Mark Lemelin (41).
Linesmen-Bob Bernard (42), Joe Ross (92).

Not dressed:   Theo Ruth (Injured), Tomas Kubalik (Injured), Adam Mair (Suspension), Anton Blomqvist (Injured), Darcy Campbell, Steve Delisle

PRE-GAME NOTES - After giving up just five goals in their first four games, Manchester has now allowed 19 goals in their last four contests.  The Falcons on the flip side scored 16 goals in their first four games, but now have only tallied seven markers in their last four contests.

Manchester's Andrei Loktionov has two goals and four assists in two games against the Falcons this year.  Marc-Andre Cliche recorded a hat trick in the opening contest of the year against the Falcons back on October 7.

Nick Drazenovic leads the Falcons in scoring against the Monarchs with three assists in two games.  Ryan Russell scored a pair of goals against Manchester back on October 16 leading the Falcons to a 5-3 win on that day.

After today's game, these two teams will not meet again until December 10 in Springfield and the Falcons will not come back to Manchester until March 9.

The Falcons roster continues to be tweaked on a daily basis as players return from injuries and some players remain out of the lineup.

• Adam Mair will start a four-game suspension tonight as a result of a hit in the game on October 22.  Mair will miss tonight, Friday against Hershey, Saturday against St. John's and the following Friday against Adirondack.
• Theo Ruth remains out of the Falcons lineup, but could make a return this weekend when the Falcons host a pair of home games.
• David Savard is expected to fly into Manchester, NH on Wednesday and meet the team for their contest against the Monarchs.
• The Falcons signed defenseman Darcy Campbell to a PTO on Wednesday.  Campbell joins Steven Delisle, Dalton Prout, Nick Holden, David Savard, Ray Macias, Cody Goloubef, Brent Regner, and Anton Blomqvist as d-men on the roster. 
• Up front, the line of Cam Atkinson, Martin St. Pierre and Wade MacLeod appears to be together.  Matt Calvert, Nick Drazenovic and Dane Byers remains a trio.  Ryan Russell and Andrew Joudrey were together and with Mair out, we will have to wait and see whi fills in on that line.  Oliver Gabriel, Ryan Garlock and Mike Thomas have also developed good chemistry together.
• Tomas Kubalik and Anton Blomqvist remain out with injuries.
• Cody Bass, John Moore, Alexandre Giroux and Allen York remain on recall to Columbus.
• Paul Dainton is with the Falcons' ECHL affiliate, Chicago Express.