FALCONS FALL SHORT TO DEVILS
January 21, 2012 - The Springfield Falcons dropped a 5-2 decision to the Albany Devils in front of 5,969 at the MassMutual Center on Saturday night. Cam Atkinson and Alexandre Giroux scored for the Falcons, who will next play on Sunday at Providence.
The Falcons fell behind early in this contest and just couldn't recover. Albany's Joe Whitney scored a hat trick in the first period in leading the Devils to a 4-0 advantage through 20 minutes. Kory Nagy also added a first period goal. Nagy added his second goal of the game late in the third period.
Saturday's Lines
Matt Calvert - Martin St. Pierre - Cam Atkinson
Alexandre Giroux - Nick Drazenovic - Dane Byers
Maksim Mayorov - Andrew Joudrey - Wade MacLeod
Trevor Bruess - Ryan Garlock - Tim Spencer
David Savard - Dalton Prout
Theo Ruth - Greg Amadio
Brent Regner - Brett Motherwell
Mark Dekanich
Manny Legace
Not dressed: Adam Mair (Injured), Cody Goloubef (Injured), Nick Holden (Injured), Cody Bass (Injured), Anton Blomqvist, Aaron Bogosian, Patrick Cullity
Albany Devils 5 at Springfield Falcons 2 - Status: Final
Saturday, January 21, 2012 - MassMutual Center
Albany 4 0 1 - 5
Springfield 0 0 2 - 2
1st Period-1, Albany, Whitney 9 (Tedenby, Sestito), 3:38. 2, Albany, Whitney 10 (Gelinas, Tedenby), 5:26 (PP). 3, Albany, Nagy 1 (Berube, Sislo), 12:53. 4, Albany, Whitney 11 (Sestito, Zharkov), 17:19. Penalties-Giroux Spr (roughing), 4:00; Sislo Alb (holding the stick), 6:49; Burlon Alb (hooking), 10:24; Regner Spr (boarding), 13:40; Urbom Alb (cross-checking), 18:48.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Banwell Alb (tripping), 1:28; MacLeod Spr (boarding), 4:11; Savard Spr (high-sticking), 12:11; Tedenby Alb (tripping), 13:30; Motherwell Spr (hooking), 14:10; Harrold Alb (roughing), 16:12; Calvert Spr (roughing), 16:12; Palmieri Alb (tripping), 17:47; Gelinas Alb (slashing), 20:00; MacLeod Spr (cross-checking), 20:00.
3rd Period-5, Springfield, Atkinson 23 (St. Pierre, Mayorov), 6:02 (PP). 6, Springfield, Giroux 13 (Drazenovic, Regner), 16:09 (PP). 7, Albany, Nagy 2 (Palmieri, Burlon), 17:10. Penalties-Amadio Spr (slashing), 3:08; Palmieri Alb (tripping), 5:34; served by St. Pierre Spr (unsportsmanlike conduct), 7:09; Savard Spr (misconduct - abuse of officials), 7:09; Veilleux Alb (cross-checking), 15:07; Berube Alb (roughing), 18:28; Zajac Alb (fighting), 18:28; Bruess Spr (fighting), 18:28; Spencer Spr (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct - continuing altercation), 18:28; Urbom Alb (hooking), 19:44.
Shots on Goal-Albany 9-9-10-28. Springfield 5-11-14-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Albany 1 / 9; Springfield 2 / 7.
Goalies-Albany, Kinkaid 10-11-1 (30 shots-28 saves). Springfield, Dekanich 1-2-1 (9 shots-5 saves); Legace 10-12-1 (19 shots-18 saves).
A-5,969
Referees-Jarrod Ragusin (54).
Linesmen-Frank Murphy (29), Rich Patry (52).
GAME PREVIEW – The Springfield Falcons and Albany Devils meet for the fourth time this season when they drop the puck at the MassMutual Center Saturday night starting at 7 pm. The Falcons are 2-1-0-0 against the Devils this year with Springfield beating Albany in the last head-to-head matchup back on December 17 by a score of 2-1 in the shootout. It was a marathon 11 round shootout that evening with the Falcons coming out on top.
The Falcons look to get back on the winning track tonight after dropping a 5-3 decision Friday night in Portland against the Pirates. Springfield currently has a record of 18-18-1-2 as they play game number 40 tonight. The Falcons remain in the hunt in the very competitive Northeast Division as they sit three points behind Albany and Bridgeport, five points behind Adirondack and six points in back of Connecticut.
The Devils also look to snap a two-game losing streak tonight. Albany dropped a 3-2 decision Friday night at Adirondack. Albany has a record of 17-15-5-3 on the season.
TRANSACTION UPDATE - The Falcons have had a busy stretch of transactions over the last three days heading into tonight’s action.
The Falcons added blueliners Brett Motherwell and Greg Amadio on Thursday. Amadio was acquired in a trade with the Grand Rapids Griffins in exchange for Mike Thomas. Motherwell was signed to a PTO after playing for the Falcons' ECHL affiliate, the Chicago Express. Both players made their Falcons debut on Friday night in Portland.
Also announced Thursday was the Columbus Blue Jackets signing of Brett Lebda, who had been with the Falcons since early November. Lebda joined the Blue Jackets on Thursday night.
On Friday, it was announced that both Dane Byers and David Savard were assigned back to the Falcons by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steven Delisle was assigned back to the Falcons’ ECHL affiliate, the Chicago Express.
FALCONS TEAM NOTES
DRAZENOVIC BACK: Falcons center Nick Drazenovic returned to the lineup on Friday night after missing 18 games due to injury.
• After not seeing a shootout through their first 27 games, the Falcons have been part of a shootout five times in their last 12 contests. The Falcons are 3-2 in the shootout this year.
• Andrew Joudrey had a three-game goal scoring streak from January 7-January 13. He now has four goals in his last six games.
• Maksim Mayorov has points in seven of his last nine games played collecting three goals and five assists.
• Matt Calvert has points in seven of his last eight games totaling five goals and three assists in that span.
• Martin St. Pierre has points in four straight games entering tonight’s action.
• Cam Atkinson has goals in five of his last six games collecting seven markers in that span.
• Alexandre Giroux has points in six of his last seven games collecting two goals and six assists in that span.
