FALCONS ONE SHORT IN PROVIDENCE
December 16, 2011 - The Springfield Falcons lost to the Providence Bruins 2-1 on Friday night at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, RI. The Falcons will next head to Albany, NY to battle the Devils on Saturday night.
The Falcons started out strong in the first period quickly outshooting the Bruins, which led to a power play opportunity. Alexandre Giroux gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead when he scored on the man advantage at 10:52 of the opening period assisted by Martin St. Pierre and Cam Atkinson.
Providence would battle back late in the opening frame as Josh Hennessy scored at 16:50 evening the score at 1-1 through 20 minutes of play.
The two teams played a scoreless second period with each club having a power play opportunity, but both Manny Legace and Anton Khudobin made some key saves to keep the game deadlocked.
With the game looking like it was destined for overtime, Providence's Kyle MacKinnon scored at 17:21 of the third period to lead the Bruins to a 2-1 win.
Friday's Lines
Alexandre Giroux - Martin St. Pierre - Cam Atkinson
Matt Calvert - Andrew Joudrey - Maksim Mayorov
Ryan Russell - Cody Bass - Tomas Kubalik
Aaron Bogosian - Adam Mair - Mike Thomas
Brett Lebda - David Savard
Dalton Prout - Theo Ruth
Brent Regner - Darcy Campbell
Manny Legace
Paul Dainton
Not dressed: Anton Blomqvist (Injured), Tim Spencer, Nick Holden (Injured), Nick Drazenovic (Injured), Ryan Garlock, Wade MacLeod (Injured), Cody Goloubef (Injured), Patrick Cullity
Springfield Falcons 1 at Providence Bruins 2 - Status: Final
Friday, December 16, 2011 - Dunkin' Donuts Center
Springfield 1 0 0 - 1
Providence 1 0 1 - 2
1st Period-1, Springfield, Giroux 9 (St. Pierre, Savard), 10:52 (PP). 2, Providence, Hennessy 9 (Bodnarchuk), 16:50. Penalties-Russell Spr (goaltender interference), 5:50; Warsofsky Pro (tripping), 9:44.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-St. Pierre Spr (holding the stick), 1:43; Miller Pro (hooking), 7:03.
3rd Period-3, Providence, MacKinnon 3 (Bartkowski, Ridderwall), 17:21. Penalties-Kubalik Spr (tripping), 2:21; Mair Spr (cross-checking), 8:07; St. Pierre Spr (boarding), 17:57.
Shots on Goal-Springfield 18-10-7-35. Providence 16-9-13-38.
Power Play Opportunities-Springfield 1 / 2; Providence 0 / 5.
Goalies-Springfield, Legace 5-9-0 (38 shots-36 saves). Providence, Khudobin 9-11-2 (35 shots-34 saves).
A-5,072
Referees-Keith Kaval (40).
Linesmen-Chris Aughe (74), Jack Millea (23).
PREGAME REPORT
By: Sean Seifert
December 16, 2011 – The Springfield Falcons look to capture three wins on the road before heading into the holidays. The Falcons head to Providence to take on the Bruins on Friday night, and then head to Albany to faceoff with the Devils the following night.
The Falcons have a 5-3-1-0 road record so far on the season, and Falcons’ center Andrew Joudrey says the traveling is good for the team. “Guys go onto the road energized. You can keep things simple with a workman-like mentality,” said Joudrey.
The Falcons and Bruins have split their two contests this season. Back on November 14th the Falcons offense surged toward a 7-2 victory on the road in Providence. Springfield heads in to Friday’s game with a 12-13-1 record, while Providence sits at the bottom of the Atlantic Division with a 10-15-1 record thus far.
Joudrey says the pre-holiday games are always extremely important. “Everyone says it, but they really are the biggest games of the year,” said Joudrey. “I think it will be good for us to get on the road, simplify our game and go there and do our best to outwork our opponents this weekend.”
The Falcons have also split 1-1 this season with the Albany Devils. In their second game of the season, the Falcons handled the Devils in a 6-3 win on the road in Albany. Before Christmas, the birds will round out their three road games in Worcester against the Sharks. “It’ll be huge for us to get some points before Christmas and make up some ground,” said Joudrey.
The Falcons have spent a majority of their season at home on MassMutual Center ice, and the coaches and players agree that the win column needs more attention. The past five Falcons’ losses have been decided by a one-goal margin, and Joudrey says establishing a home presence can make all the difference.
“We need to take care of business at home. We want to make sure that we are building so teams come into Springfield knowing they’ll have to work hard to beat us,” said Joudrey. “We haven’t established that yet and it’s on us to improve that.”
Falcons’ forward Martin St. Pierre sits in the American Hockey League’s top 10 list of scorers, posting 28 points in 24 games for Springfield this season with 19 assists. Manny Legace holds steady in net for the Falcons, having turned aside 330 of the 360 shots he has faced this season for a .917 save percentage.
Cam Atkinson is on a three-game goal scoring streak. Atkinson has scored in the Falcons’ last three contests, including a skillful penalty shot goal against Worcester at the MassMutual Center on Tuesday night. Atkinson leads the birds in goals this season with 11, along with 7 assists for 18 points in 22 games.
