FALCONS FALL SHORT TO WHALE
February 10, 2012 - The Springfield Falcons were three minutes away from a hard-fought victory over their biggest rival, but the Connecticut Whale tied the game late in regulation and converted in overtime to leave the Falcons with a 3-2 setback at the MassMutual Center on Friday night. The Falcons will next head to Bridgeport on Saturday night.
With the game tied at 1-1 entering the third period, the Falcons came out fast and furious looking for the go-ahead goal. At 6:50 of the final frame, Cam Atkinson knocked home an Alexandre Giroux rebound on the power play for his 26th marker on the year, giving the Falcons a 2-1 lead. For Atkinson, it was a marker that moved him into second place for most goals in a single season by a Falcons rookie, surpassing Jason Jaspers.
With the Falcons holding onto a one-goal advantage, the Whale evened the score at 16:54 of the final period when Jonathan Audy-Marchessault snapped home his 17th marker on the year deadlocking the score at 2-2. Connecticut tallied the game-winner in overtime when Wojtek Wolski scored his second goal of the night giving the Whale a 3-2 victory.
The two teams came out and scored quickly in the first period as Wolski scored his first marker of the night at 1:04 of the opening period, but Atkinson came back 16-seconds later to even the score at 1-1.
FRIDAY'S LINEUP
Alex Giroux - Martin St. Pierre - Cam Atkinson
Matt Calvert - Ryan Garlock - Tomas Kubalik
Maksim Mayorov - Andrew Joudrey - Dane Byers
Tim Spencer - Aaron Bogosian - Wade MacLeod
Patrick Cullity - Brent Regner
Cody Goloubef - Greg Amadio
Brett Motherwell - Anton Blomqvist
Manny Legace
Paul Dainton
Not dressed: Adam Mair (Injured), Theo Ruth (AHL Suspension), Nick Holden (Injured), Cody Bass (Injured), Mark Dekanich (Injured), Chris D'Alvise, Nick Drazenovic (Injured)
Connecticut Whale 3 (OT) at Springfield Falcons 2 - Status: Final OT
Friday, February 10, 2012 - MassMutual Center
Connecticut 1 0 1 1 - 3
Springfield 1 0 1 0 - 2
1st Period-1, Connecticut, Wolski 2 (Zuccarello, Bell), 1:04 (PP). 2, Springfield, Atkinson 25 (Giroux, Cullity), 1:20. Penalties-Amadio Spr (holding), 0:49; MacLeod Spr (slashing), 3:42; Audy-Marchessault Ct (hooking), 10:24; St. Pierre Spr (slashing), 15:16.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Motherwell Spr (cross-checking), 7:12; Bogosian Spr (hooking), 11:09; Tanski Ct (hooking), 15:14.
3rd Period-3, Springfield, Atkinson 26 (Giroux, Regner), 6:50 (PP). 4, Connecticut, Audy-Marchessault 17 16:54. Penalties-Newbury Ct (hooking), 5:11; Erixon Ct (hooking), 9:50.
OT Period-5, Connecticut, Wolski 3 (Nightingale, Erixon), 1:04. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Connecticut 23-8-8-1-40. Springfield 12-11-12-0-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 1 / 5; Springfield 1 / 4.
Goalies-Connecticut, Johnson 14-9-5 (35 shots-33 saves). Springfield, Legace 10-15-1 (40 shots-37 saves).
A-3,863
Referees-Marcus Vinnerborg (45).
Linesmen-Kevin Redding (16), Chris Low (88).
GAME PREVIEW – The Springfield Falcons and Connecticut Whale meet for the ninth time this season when they continue their rivalry on Friday night at the MassMutual Center starting at 7:30 pm. The Falcons are 3-5 against the Whale this season, including three straight victories over Connecticut during the month on January. The Falcons and Whale enter tonight’s contest just six points apart in the Northeast Division standings with Springfield sitting in third with 47 points and Connecticut at the top with 53 points.
Both Cam Atkinson and Alexandre Giroux lead the Falcons in scoring against the Whale with Atkinson collecting three goals and three assists in seven games, while Giroux has one goal and five assists in six games against Connecticut.
Connecticut forward Jonathan Audy-Marchessault leads the Whale in scoring against the Falcons this year with five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in eight games. Kris Newbury is tied with Audy-Marchessault for the Whale lead in goals against Springfield this year with five.
The Falcons enter Friday’s contest looking to build on momentum gained from a 4-2 win over the Norfolk Admirals this past Sunday. The Falcons scored three third period goals in that contest to earn their 22nd victory. The Falcons have won four of their last six games with Maksim Mayorov scoring the game-winning goal in Springfield’s last two wins. Springfield will start three games in three days this weekend as they head to Bridgeport on Saturday and host Manchester on Sunday.
The Whale enter tonight’s action on a three-game winning streak after defeating the Syracuse Crunch by a score of 3-1 on Tuesday. Connecticut has recorded at least a point in six of their last seven games going 3-1-2-1 in that span. The Whale will see the exact same opponents the Falcons will see this weekend as Connecticut heads to Manchester on Saturday and Bridgeport on Sunday.
FALCONS PLAYER NOTES
• Alexandre Giroux has recorded at least a point in eight of his last 11 games totaling four goals and five assists for nine points.
• Cam Atkinson has points in four of his last five games picking up one goal and three assists in that stretch.
• Defenseman Patrick Cullity scored his first AHL goal on Sunday, February 5 and also added one assist in leading the Falcons to a 4-2 win over Norfolk. Cullity signed a Standard American Hockey League contract with the Falcons on February 7, 2012.
• Matt Calvert has goals in two straight games entering tonight’s contest. Calvert has two goals and one assist for three points in his last two games played.
• Falcons goaltender Paul Dainton has won four of his last five starts since January 25.
WHALE PLAYER NOTES
• Defenseman Jeff Woywitka has three assists in three games since joining the Whale on February 3.
• Kris Newbury has two goals in his last three games.
• Jonathan Audy-Marchessault has points in four of his last five games totaling two goals and two assists.
• Casey Wellman has points in two straight games since joining the Whale on February 4 collecting two assists in that span.
• Mats Zuccarello has points in four straight games collecting two goals and three assists in that stretch.
• Goaltender Chad Johnson has won his last three straight starts stopping 82 of 86 shots on goal.
