FALCONS BEAT PIRATES 4-2
January 14, 2012 - The Springfield Falcons extended their points streak to five straight games beating the Portland Pirates 4-2 on Saturday night at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine. The Falcons are now 4-0-0-1 in their last five contests heading into Sunday's matinee against the Providence Bruins at the MassMutual Center starting at 3 pm.
The Falcons used four different goal scorers and for the second straight night they scored a pair of shorthanded goals. Springfield now leads the American Hockey League in shorthanded goals this year with 11.
The Falcons faced back-to-back penalty kills early in the first period and for the second straight night, they used the shorthanded situation to open the scoring. Cam Atkinson and Matt Calvert executed a perfect two-on-one situation with Calvert feeding Atkinson for his 21st goal of the year at 5:57 of the first period. Atkinson now has goals in four straight games collecting six markers in that span.
The Falcons expanded their lead to 2-0 at 13:26 of the first period when Martin St. Pierre scored his eigth goal of the year. Portland cut their deficit to 2-1 at 17:47 of the opening frame when David Rundbland scored his first goal of the year.
In the second period, the Falcons used the penalty kill again to expand their lead as Alexandre Giroux dangled his way through a couple Portland defenders and slid the puck past Portland goaltender Justin Pogge at 3:48 giving Springfield a 3-1 advantage. The Falcons expanded their lead to 4-1 at 8:06 of the middle stanza when Wade MacLeod tipped in a Dalton Prout slap shot from the point.
Springfield's Tim Spencer and Portland's Ryan Hollweg dropped the gloves late in the second period with Spencer scoring the knockdown.
The line of St. Pierre, Giroux and Atkinson all were stars tonight with St. Pierre earning #1, Giroux #2 and Atkinson #3.
Saturday's Lines
Alexandre Giroux - Martin St. Pierre - Cam Atkinson
Wade MacLeod - Ryan Garlock - Matt Calvert
Maksim Mayorov - Andrew Joudrey - Cody Bass
Trevor Bruess- Aaron Bogosian - Tim Spencer
Brett Lebda - Dalton Prout
Theo Ruth - Brent Regner
Patrick Cullity - Anton Blomqvist
Manny Legace
Mark Dekanich
Not dressed: Adam Mair (Injured), Nick Drazenovic (Injured), Cody Goloubef (Injured), Nick Holden (Injured), Mike Thomas
Springfield Falcons 4 at Portland Pirates 2 - Status: Final
Saturday, January 14, 2012 - Cumberland County Civic Center
Springfield 2 2 0 - 4
Portland 1 0 1 - 2
1st Period-1, Springfield, Atkinson 21 (Calvert), 5:57 (SH). 2, Springfield, St. Pierre 8 13:26. 3, Portland, Rundblad 1 (Eckford, Watkins), 17:47. Penalties-Cullity Spr (hooking), 1:48; Spencer Spr (roughing), 5:05; Arsene Por (cross-checking), 10:29.
2nd Period-4, Springfield, Giroux 12 3:48 (SH). 5, Springfield, MacLeod 3 (Garlock, Mayorov), 8:06. Penalties-Lebda Spr (high-sticking), 1:49; Hollweg Por (charging), 6:05; Spencer Spr (fighting), 10:51; Hollweg Por (fighting), 10:51; Eckford Por (high-sticking), 14:01.
3rd Period-6, Portland, Szwarz 3 (Duncan, Eckford), 16:53. Penalties-Werek Por (high-sticking), 13:31; Joudrey Spr (high-sticking), 18:59; Miele Por (slashing), 19:49.
Shots on Goal-Springfield 7-12-5-24. Portland 13-6-9-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Springfield 0 / 4; Portland 0 / 4.
Goalies-Springfield, Legace 10-11-1 (28 shots-26 saves). Portland, Pogge 5-5-3 (24 shots-20 saves).
A-4,608
Referees-Chris Brown (86).
Linesmen-Landon Bathe (80), Joe Andrews (32).
