FALCONS BEAT SHARKS 6-3
December 21, 2011 - The Springfield Falcons beat the Worcester Sharks 6-3 on Wednesday night at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA extending their winning streak to two straight games heading into their holiday break. Tomas Kubalik and Ryan Garlock each scored a pair of goals in the win, while Matt Calvert added three assists. Springfield is only four points behind second place Adirondack and three points behind third place Albany.
"This was a big one for us for many reasons," said Falcons head coach Rob Riley. "It was nice to win two straight before having a few days off, but it was also big to see how many guys we had chip in with the offense. That's what it takes for us to be successful, we had everyone contribute tonight."
For Garlock, it was his first two-goal game of his AHL career and for the night, he finished with two goals and one assist on the evening.
"Ryan (Garlock) stepped up big for us tonight," said Riley. "He moved up between Atkinson and Calvert and gave us exactly what we needed with some players out with injuries."
The Falcons built a two-goal first period lead when Garlock converted at 6:16 of the opening frame, followed by Kubalik tipping in an Alexandre Giroux slap shot on the power play at 14:47.
It didn't take the Falcons long to expand their lead in the second period as Garlock scored his second marker of the game just 49-seconds into the middle frame. After Worcester's John McCarthy cut the Sharks' deficit to 3-1 at 3:15, Springfield took another three goal lead at 10:03 of the second period when Kubalik added his second goal of the game. Maksim Mayorov added his first marker of the year at 12:28 of the second period giving the Falcons a 5-1 lead through 40 minutes.
"It was good to see Maks (Mayorov) get his first, we needed to find some secondary scoring and it was there tonight," said Riley.
In the third period, Brodie Reid cut Worcester's deficit to 5-2 just 2:01 into the final stanza, but Cam Atkinson scored his team-leading 15th marker of the year just 12-seconds later giving the birds a 6-2 cushion.
Falcons goaltender Manny Legace started the game and stopped 14 of 15 shots through 40 minutes of play. Allen York played the third period for Springfield and completed the win for Legace and the Falcons.
"Manny had a collision in the second period and was feeling it a little bit at the start of the third," said Riley. "Yorkie was ready to go, I don't see any long-term effects, we have four days off now and it looks like Manny (Legace) will be ready to go after the break."
The Falcons will return to practice on Monday before heading to Syracuse on Tuesday as they prepare to battle the Crunch on Wednesday night.
Wednesday's Lines
Alexandre Giroux - Martin St. Pierre - Maksim Mayorov
Matt Calvert - Ryan Garlock - Cam Atkinson
Ryan Russell - Andrew Joudrey - Tomas Kubalik
Mike Thomas - Aaron Bogosian - Tim Spencer
Brett Lebda - David Savard
Dalton Prout - Brent Regner
Theo Ruth - Patrick Cullity
Manny Legace
Allen York
Not dressed: Anton Blomqvist (Injured), Adam Mair (Injured), Nick Holden (Injured), Nick Drazenovic (Injured), Cody Bass (Injured), Wade MacLeod (Injured), Cody Goloubef (Injured)
Springfield Falcons 6 at Worcester Sharks 3 - Status: Final
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - DCU Center
Springfield 2 3 1 - 6
Worcester 0 1 2 - 3
1st Period-1, Springfield, Garlock 2 (Atkinson, Calvert), 6:16. 2, Springfield, Kubalik 4 (Giroux, Savard), 14:47 (PP). Penalties-Mayorov Spr (roughing), 1:02; Thomas Spr (tripping), 10:12; Lucia Wor (hooking), 12:56; Lebda Spr (holding), 19:21.
2nd Period-3, Springfield, Garlock 3 (Calvert), 0:49 (SH). 4, Worcester, McCarthy 6 (Sullivan, Combs), 3:15. 5, Springfield, Kubalik 5 (Russell), 10:03. 6, Springfield, Mayorov 1 (Russell, Calvert), 12:28. Penalties-Bogosian Spr (roughing), 8:29; Petrecki Wor (roughing), 8:29; Petrecki Wor (slashing), 10:24; Thomas Spr (fighting), 12:31; Mashinter Wor (fighting), 12:31; Gogol Wor (slashing, unsportsmanlike conduct), 14:48.
3rd Period-7, Worcester, Reid 4 (Mashinter), 2:01. 8, Springfield, Atkinson 15 (Garlock), 2:13. 9, Worcester, Wingels 12 (Acolatse, Reid), 18:40 (PP). Penalties-Bogosian Spr (holding), 3:21; Spencer Spr (slashing, fighting), 18:08; Gogol Wor (fighting), 18:08; Ruth Spr (roughing), 18:33; Combs Wor (roughing), 18:33.
Shots on Goal-Springfield 10-8-9-27. Worcester 4-11-13-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Springfield 1 / 4; Worcester 1 / 5.
Goalies-Springfield, Legace 7-9-0 (15 shots-14 saves); York 1-1-0 (13 shots-11 saves). Worcester, Niittymaki 1-2-0 (27 shots-21 saves).
A-2,778
Referees-Geno Binda (22), Francis Charron (46).
Linesmen-Todd Whittemore (70), Bob Paquette (18).
PREGAME NOTES - The Falcons and Sharks have played three times this year with two of the contests going to overtime and all three games being decided by one goal.
Springfield is coming off a 2-1 win last Saturday at Albany in a shootout, while Worcester is 7-2-0-1 in their last 10 games.
The Falcons had goaltenders switching places this week as Allen York returned to Springfield from the ECHL's Chicago Express, while Paul Dainton headed to Chicago to join the Express.
On the Falcons injury front, Nick Holden, Nick Drazenovic, Wade MacLeod, Cody Bass, Cody Goloubef, and Anton Blomqvist all appear to be out of the lineup this week with injuries.
The Falcons have moved into fourth place in the Northeast Division, four points behind third place Albany and only five points behind second place Adirondack. Springfield played in their longest shootout in franchise history on Saturday in Albany beating the Devils 2-1 in 11 rounds. Cam Atkinson, Maksim Mayorov, Ryan Garlock and Brett Lebda all scored in the extra session for the Falcons.
With his goal Saturday night, Cam Atkinson extended his scoring streak to five straight games and he has also moved into 5th in the AHL in rookie scoring. Atkinson has 14 goals and eight assists for 22 points in 26 games and he continues to lead the Falcons in goals. He has scored a goal in four of his last five contests.
Manny Legace has started the last six straight games for the Falcons posting a .940 save percentage stopping 157 of 167 shots on goal in that stretch. Legace has moved into 11th in the league with a 2.26 goals against average and for the season he has a .922 save percentage. Legace also stopped eight of 11 shooters in the shootout on Saturday night in Albany.
Martin St. Pierre is 10th in the league in scoring with six goals and 23 assists for 29 points in 26 games.
Nine of Springfield's last 10 games have been decided by one goal. To go one step further, 12 of Springfield's last 17 games have been one goal games.
