FALCONS FALL TO ADMIRALS 5-1
March 3, 2012 - It was a night in Norfolk, Virginia that featured a pregame fight that created a lot of energy before the game even started, but for the Falcons they ended up dropping a 5-1 decision to the Admirals and left Virginia 0-2 in their weekend series. The Falcons now head to Hershey, PA to conclude their weekend road trip on Sunday starting at 5pm.
After a very physical game Friday night between these two teams, the bad blood boiled over on Saturday and it occurred before most of the 7,028 arrived in the building. During the pregame warmup, both teams had players exchanging words back and forth and finally gloves were dropped and punches were exchanged before things settled down after about a four minute altercation.
Once the game started, Norfolk came out and used a quick start and built a three goal first period lead. The Admirals used three goals in a stretch of seven minutes midway through the first period to take control of the momentum for the contest. Cory Conarcher opened the scoring at 7:04 of the first period, followed by Michel Ouellet at 8:28 and Tyler Johnson at 14:32 giving the Admirals a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes.
In the second period, rookie Mike Spillane made his AHL debut relieving Paul Dainton and the teams played a scoreless middle frame.
In the third period, Brent Regner cut the Falcons' deficit to 3-1 with his second goal of the year, but Norfolk added two more concluding the night.
Springfield Falcons 1 at Norfolk Admirals 5 - Status: Final
Saturday, March 3, 2012 - Norfolk Scope
Springfield 0 0 1 - 1
Norfolk 3 0 2 - 5
1st Period-1, Norfolk, Conacher 31 (Gudas, Devos), 7:04. 2, Norfolk, Ouellet 14 (Angelidis, Picard), 8:28. 3, Norfolk, Johnson 19 (Jackson, Angelidis), 14:32 (SH). Penalties-Prout Spr (interference), 3:20; Angelidis Nor (elbowing), 11:31; Kubalik Spr (roughing), 11:33; Conacher Nor (roughing), 11:33; Cote Nor (holding), 13:40; Bogosian Spr (hooking), 16:32.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Picard Nor (interference), 3:58; Amadio Spr (holding), 8:51; Cullity Spr (interference), 15:30; Gudas Nor (major - kneeing, game misconduct - kneeing), 19:07.
3rd Period-4, Springfield, Regner 2 (Savard, MacLeod), 8:15. 5, Norfolk, Panik 13 (Conacher, Barberio), 10:19 (PP). 6, Norfolk, Johnson 20 (Palat, Panik), 11:00. Penalties-Mair Spr (holding), 4:43; Savard Spr (slashing), 10:05; Bass Spr (roughing), 15:18; Angelidis Nor (roughing), 15:18.
Shots on Goal-Springfield 5-6-7-18. Norfolk 11-4-10-25.
Power Play Opportunities-Springfield 0 / 4; Norfolk 1 / 6.
Goalies-Springfield, Dainton 9-6-0 (11 shots-8 saves); Spillane 0-0-0 (14 shots-12 saves). Norfolk, Tokarski 27-11-0 (18 shots-17 saves).
A-7,028
Referees-Chris Cozzan (18), Mark Lemelin (41).
Linesmen-Jesse Pletsch (51), Tom George (61).
SATURDAY'S LINEUP
Alexandre Giroux - Martin St. Pierre - Tomas Kubalik
Matt Calvert - Nate Longpre - Maksim Mayorov
Dane Byers - Andrew Joudrey - Wade MacLeod
Adam Mair - Cody Bass - Aaron Bogosian
Patrick Cullity - David Savard
Cody Goloubef - Greg Amadio
Brent Regner- Dalton Prout
Paul Dainton
Mike Spillane
Not dressed: Manny Legace (Injured), Anton Blomqvist, Nick Holden (Injured), Mark Dekanich (Injured), Nick Drazenovic (Injured), Theo Ruth, Tim Spencer, Ryan Garlock
PREGAME NOTES - The Springfield Falcons look to rebound on Saturday night when they face the Norfolk Admirals at The Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia starting at 7:15 pm. The Falcons have won three of their last four games and two of their last three contests in Norfolk.
Let's get to the standings, the Falcons are three points behind the 8th place Manchester Monarchs in the Eastern Conference. Springfield is tied with Providence, Portland and Worcester with 58 points each, it's a log jam of teams battling for the last playoff spot.
Maksim Mayorov is expected to be back in the lineup on Saturday after missing Friday's contest with flu like symptoms. Mayorov has six points in his last two games, three goals and three assists, and will add some offense tonight. Nathan Longpre made his Falcons debut on Friday and was impressive displaying his speed and almost converting on a shorthanded breakaway last night. Wade MacLeod scored last night giving him goals in back to back games.
Paul Dainton is expected to make his 4th straight start on Saturday night.
Stay tuned for more updates....
