FALCONS SHUT OUT BY MONARCHS
March 9, 2012 - The Springfield Falcons lost to the Manchester Monarchs 3-0 on Friday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH. The Falcons now return home for back to back home games as they host the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Sunday. The Falcons are 5-2-1-0 in their last eight home contests.
Friday's game was a very important game in the standings for both teams as Springfield trailed Manchester by two points for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Early in the first period, there was a physical tone right from the start as Springfield's Matt Calvert dropped the gloves with Manchester's Richard Clune.
The teams would exchange scoring chances until Manchester took a 1-0 lead at 11:16 of the first period when Brandon Kozun knocked home a Robert Czarnik rebound. The Monarchs expanded their advantage to 2-0 at 15:43 of the opening frame when Patrick Mullen's slap shot beat Falcons goaltender Paul Dainton giving Manchester a two goal cushion early in the game.
The Falcons started the second period on the power play and that is where Dainton came up big making back to back breakaway saves on Marc-Andre Cliche and Nick Deslauriers keeping the Falcons within striking distance.
In the third period with the Falcons looking to cut into their deficit, Manchester used a Falcons power play to expand their lead as Stefan Legein tallied a shorthanded marker at 2:03 of the third period putting the Monarchs on top 3-0.
For the remainder of regulation, Manchester goaltender Jeff Zatkoff made save after save as he turned aside all 28 Springfield shots on the night for his first shutout of the year. The Falcons outshot the Monarchs 28-26 in the game.
FRIDAY'S LINEUP
Alexandre Giroux - Martin St. Pierre - Tomas Kubalik
Matt Calvert - Nate Longpre - Wade MacLeod
Dane Byers - Nick Drazenovic - Cody Bass
Aaron Bogosian - Andrew Joudrey - Ryan Garlock
Patrick Cullity - Theo Ruth
Cody Goloubef - Dalton Prout
Brent Regner- David Savard
Paul Dainton
Manny Legace
Not dressed: Anton Blomqvist, Nick Holden (Injured), Mark Dekanich (Injured), Tim Spencer, Greg Amadio (AHL Suspension), Adam Mair (AHL Suspension)
Springfield Falcons 0 at Manchester Monarchs 3 - Status: Final
Friday, March 9, 2012 - Verizon Wireless Arena
Springfield 0 0 0 - 0
Manchester 2 0 1 - 3
1st Period-1, Manchester, Kozun 17 (Czarnik), 11:16. 2, Manchester, Mullen 8 (Muzzin, Loktionov), 15:43. Penalties-Calvert Spr (roughing, fighting), 2:38; Clune Mch (roughing, fighting), 2:38; Deslauriers Mch (hooking), 19:09.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Kubalik Spr (high-sticking, roughing), 4:49; Deslauriers Mch (roughing), 4:49; Kozun Mch (hooking), 6:39; Ruth Spr (holding), 14:08; Muzzin Mch (tripping), 14:21.
3rd Period-3, Manchester, Legein 10 (Campbell), 2:03 (SH). Penalties-Clune Mch (hooking), 1:12; Cullity Spr (holding), 8:11; Kozun Mch (hooking), 12:04; Campbell Mch (slashing), 13:37.
Shots on Goal-Springfield 7-13-8-28. Manchester 9-13-4-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Springfield 0 / 6; Manchester 0 / 3.
Goalies-Springfield, Dainton 9-8-0 (26 shots-23 saves). Manchester, Zatkoff 17-13-1 (28 shots-28 saves).
A-5,365
Referees-Francis Charron (46).
Linesmen-Jeremy Lovett (78), Landon Bathe (80).
Eastern Conference Standings entering Friday's game
1. Norfolk - 81 pts
2. St. John's - 77 pts
3. Bridgeport - 70 pts
4. Wilkes-Barre - 73 pts
5. Hershey - 71 pts
6. Connecticut - 68 pts
7. Albany - 63 pts (Friday at Syracuse)
8. Worcester - 61 pts (Friday vs. Portland)
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9. Manchester - 61 pts (Friday Vs. Springfield)
10. Portland - 60 pts (Friday at Worcester)
11. Adirondack - 59 pts (Friday Vs. Norfolk)
12. Springfield - 59 pts (Friday at Manchester)
13. Providence - 58 pts (Friday Vs. Wilkes-Barre)
14. Syracuse - 56 pts (Friday Vs. Albany)
15. Binghamton - 52 pts
After Friday's battle in Manchester, the Falcons return home on Saturday to host Syracuse and Sunday to host Wilkes-Barre. The Falcons have been a really good home team as of late going 5-2-1-0 in their last eight contests at the MassMutual Center, including back to back home wins on February 24-25. The Falcons will be hosting their annual "Pink in the Rink" night on Saturday sponsored by TD Bank and benefitting the Mary Kay Foundation. The Falcons will be wearing special pink jerseys and there will be free thunderstixs to the first 1,000 fans.
ROSTER UPDATE - It's been a busy week with roster adjustments for the Falcons and here is a quick breakdown heading into this weekend: Adam Mair will serve his 3-game AHL suspension this weekend, Greg Amadio will serve a 2-game AHL suspension starting tonight and concluding Saturday. Amadio will be back on Sunday.
Maksim Mayorov was recalled on Thursday and remains with the Blue Jackets. Mike Spillane was released from his PTO on Monday.
Current Falcons Roster
Goalies - Paul Dainton, Manny Legace
Defensemen - Dalton Prout, David Savard, Patrick Cullity, Theo Ruth, Cody Goloubef, Brent Regner, Anton Blomqvist
Forwards - Nate Longpre, Nick Drazenovic, Alexandre Giroux, Ryan Garlock, Tomas Kubalik, Wade MacLeod, Tim Spencer, Andrew Joudrey, Cody Bass, Aaron Bogosian, Dane Byers, Matt Calvert, Martin St. Pierre
The Falcons have 13 forwards and 7 defensemen active for Friday's game.
Not Active for Friday and Saturday, Adam Mair (AHL Suspension), Greg Amadio (AHL Suspension)
