FALCONS RALLY FALLS SHORT
December 28, 2011 - The Springfield Falcons headed to Syracuse, NY looking for their third consecutive win, but Crunch goaltender Liro Tarkki stopped 34 of 36 shots in leading Syracuse to a 5-2 win. Syracuse forward Peter Holland had a four-point night collecting two goals and two assists, while Brandon McMillan and Patrick Maroon also added one goal and two assists each.
The Falcons battled back from an early 3-0 deficit to pull within a single goal midway through the third period. Alexandre Giroux scored his 10th goal of the year and 350th of his AHL career to cut Springfield's deficit to 3-2 at 7:41 of the final frame. It was a third period that saw the Falcons generate a lot of offensive pressure on Tarkki and outshot the Crunch 10-7 in the frame. Springfield outshot Syracuse 25-19 through the final 40 minutes and for the game, the Falcons held a 36-32 shots advantage.
Facing a very important five-on-three power play midway through the second period and trailing by three, the Falcons coaching staff used their timeout to regroup and the stoppage in play paid off. Tomas Kubalik tallied on the man advantage at 9:42 of the middle stanza cutting the Falcons' deficit to 3-1.
The Crunch took control of the game in the first period going on a power play within the game's first minute. Holland tallied his first goal of the game at 9:15 of the opening frame giving the Crunch a 1-0 lead, followed by Maroon scoring on the power play just 1:41 later giving Syracuse a two-goal cushion.
The Crunch took a three goal lead just 2:12 into the second period when McMillan scored his fourth marker of the year. Syracuse added a pair of empty net goals in the final minute of regulation to secure the victory.
Falcons goaltender Manny Legace stopped 27 of 30 shots. The Falcons were 1-7 on the power play, while Syracuse was 1-8 on the man advantage.
Wednesday's Lines
Alexandre Giroux - Martin St. Pierre - Maksim Mayorov
Matt Calvert - Ryan Garlock - Cam Atkinson
Ryan Russell - Andrew Joudrey - Tomas Kubalik
Tim Spencer - Aaron Bogosian - Chad Costello
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), Mike Thomas
Springfield Falcons 2 at Syracuse Crunch 5 - Status: Final
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 - Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter
Springfield 0 1 1 - 2
Syracuse 2 1 2 - 5
1st Period-1, Syracuse, Holland 9 (Carle, Maroon), 9:15. 2, Syracuse, Maroon 13 (McMillan, Holland), 10:56 (PP). Penalties-Lebda Spr (hooking), 0:23; Maroon Syr (holding), 4:38; served by Costello Spr (bench minor - too many men), 6:58; Regner Spr (slashing), 9:37; Bell Syr (interference), 18:19; Kennedy Syr (holding), 19:04.
2nd Period-3, Syracuse, McMillan 4 (Maroon, Holland), 2:12. 4, Springfield, Kubalik 6 (Giroux, Savard), 9:42 (PP). Penalties-Regner Spr (tripping), 3:26; Garlock Spr (high-sticking), 4:34; Zimmerman Syr (holding), 8:20; Clark Syr (tripping), 9:20; Savard Spr (holding), 11:50; St. Pierre Spr (goaltender interference), 17:15; Maroon Syr (interference), 18:13.
3rd Period-5, Springfield, Giroux 10 (Mayorov), 7:41. 6, Syracuse, Holland 10 (McMillan), 18:55 (EN). 7, Syracuse, Deschamps 5 (Macenauer, Clark), 19:05 (EN). Penalties-Prout Spr (cross-checking), 8:08; Guenin Syr (holding), 9:41.
Shots on Goal-Springfield 11-15-10-36. Syracuse 13-12-7-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Springfield 1 / 7; Syracuse 1 / 8.
Goalies-Springfield, Legace 7-10-0 (30 shots-27 saves). Syracuse, Tarkki 9-9-1 (36 shots-34 saves).
A-5,339
Referees-Dave Lewis (16), Chris Brown (86).
Linesmen-Derek Sylvester (76), Fraser McIntyre (94).
