FALCONS BEAT BRUINS 3-1
March 31, 2012 - The Springfield Falcons needed a win on Saturday night and they earned a victory, beating the Providence Bruins 3-1 in front of a sell-out crowd of 6,789 at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons used two goals from Nick Drazenovic, two assists from Dane Byers and 22 saves from goaltender Manny Legace to collect their 32nd win of the season. With the two points, the Falcons remain five points behind the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Falcons also improved their record to 9-1-1-1 in their last 12 home games.
There was an energy in the building right from the drop of the puck as the Falcons used the home crowd to gain some early momentum in this contest. Springfield ended up on a five on three power play midway through the opening period and Maksim Mayorov took advantage redirecting a Martin St. Pierre shot past Anton Khudobin giving the Birds a 1-0 lead.
Late in the first period, Providence used their own power play to even the score as Kirk MacDonald tallied his 10th marker on the campaign sending the game deadlocked at 1-1 after 20 minutes of play.
In the second period, the Falcons used just 37 seconds to regain a one goal lead when Drazenovic scored his 12th goal on the year putting Springfield on top 2-1. Later in the middle frame, Drazenovic tallied his second goal of the night as he one-timed a Byers pass behind Khudobin at 13:17 of the second period giving the Falcons a 3-1 advantage after two periods of play.
The teams played a scoreless third period and the Falcons improved their record to 32-32-3-3 on the season. The Falcons head into Worcester on Sunday to conclude their three-game weekend.
GAME NOTES
The Falcons sell-out crowd was their first since January 24, 2008......Nick Drazenovic now has seven goals in his last eight games....Matt Calvert extended his scoring streak to eight games collecting four goals and six assists in that span......Martin St. Pierre added his 50th assist of the year, he is third in the AHL in assists.
Providence Bruins 1 at Springfield Falcons 3 - Status: Final
Saturday, March 31, 2012 - MassMutual Center
Providence 1 0 0 - 1
Springfield 1 2 0 - 3
1st Period-1, Springfield, Mayorov 10 (St. Pierre, Savard), 10:07 (PP). 2, Providence, MacDonald 10 (Hennessy, Arniel), 13:52 (PP). Penalties-Miller Pro (slashing), 5:45; MacDonald Pro (roughing, roughing), 9:12; Amadio Spr (roughing), 9:12; Miller Pro (boarding), 9:41; Sauve Pro (goaltender interference), 13:21; Giroux Spr (roughing), 13:21; Savard Spr (roughing), 13:21.
2nd Period-3, Springfield, Drazenovic 12 (Regner, Byers), 0:37. 4, Springfield, Drazenovic 13 (Byers, Calvert), 13:17. Penalties-Robins Pro (slashing), 5:43; Blomqvist Spr (hooking), 8:48; Miller Pro (high-sticking), 15:48.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Amadio Spr (slashing), 3:17; Whitfield Pro (delay of game), 6:02.
Shots on Goal-Providence 5-8-10-23. Springfield 12-9-2-23.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 1 / 3; Springfield 1 / 6.
Goalies-Providence, Khudobin 21-19-3 (23 shots-20 saves). Springfield, Legace 12-17-1 (23 shots-22 saves).
A-6,789
Referees-Chris Brown (86).
Linesmen-Chris Low (88), Marty Demers (79).
SATURDAY'S LINEUP
Alexandre Giroux -
Matt Calvert - Nick Drazenovic - Dane Byers
Maksim Mayorov - Nate Longpre - Andrew Joudrey
Tim Spencer - Ryan Garlock - Sean Collins
Patrick Cullity - Theo Ruth
Anton Blomqvist - Greg Amadio
Brent Regner- David Savard
Manny Legace
Paul Dainton
Not dressed: Nick Holden (Injured), Adam Mair, Cody Bass (Injured), Mike Clemente, Tomas Kubalik (Injured), Aaron Bogosian, Trent Vogelhuber, Daniel New
GAME PREVIEW – The Springfield Falcons and Providence Bruins meet for the 10th and final time this season when they drop the puck at the MassMutual Center on Saturday night. The Falcons are 2-6-0-1 against the Bruins this season.
Martin St. Pierre leads the Falcons in scoring against the Bruins this year with one goal and eight assists for nine points in nine games. Alexandre Giroux, Dane Byers, and Nick Drazenovic all lead Springfield in goals against Providence this year with three markers each. Goaltender Manny Legace has posted a 1.98 goals against average and .934 save percentage in five games against the Bruins this year.
Carter Camper leads Providence in scoring against Springfield this year with two goals and seven assists for nine points in nine games played. Kirk MacDonald, Josh Hennessy and Jamie Tardif all lead the Bruins in goals against the Falcons with three each.
FALCONS NOTES - The Falcons signed defenseman Daniel New to an Amateur Tryout Agreement on Saturday. New recently finished his collegiate career at Providence College….The Falcons had a busy day of transactions on Thursday as the team welcomed rookie Sean Collins from Cornell University and Trent Vogelhuber from Miami (Ohio), both players signing Amateur Tryout Agreements….Dalton Prout was recalled by Columbus on Thursday, while David Savard was reassigned to the Falcons by the Blue Jackets. Also, Jake Morley was released from his ATO.
Matt Calvert is on a seven-game scoring streak collecting four goals and five assists for nine points in that span.
Alexandre Giroux collected his 700th career AHL point with his 24th goal of the year on March 25. The goal, the 364th of Giroux's AHL career, moved the Quebec City native into a tie with AHL Hall of Famer Mitch Lamoureux for seventh place on the league's all-time list.
Dane Byers scored his 100th career pro goal on March 25, 99th career AHL goal.
Martin St. Pierre continues to remain in the top 10 in scoring in the AHL with 10 goals and 49 assists for 59 points in 67 games. St. Pierre remains 3rd in the league with 49 assists. (Most assists in a season by a Falcons player: Jean-Guy Trudel (65, 2000-01), Daniel Briere (56, 1997-1998), Charles Linglet (55, 2009-10), Brad Tiley (54, 1999-00), Rob Schremp (53, 2007-08), Robert Petrovicky (52, 1994-1995).
BRUINS NOTES - Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced March 25 that the club has signed forward Justin Florek and defenseman Zach Trotman to entry-level contracts.
Florek is a 6'4", 200 lb. forward who just finished his senior season at Northern Michigan University of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. In 37 games with Northern Michigan this year, he set career bests in goals (19) and points (36), to go along with 17 assists and was among the conference leaders in multiple offensive categories. He led the conference in power play goals with nine, finished second in both power play points (16) and total goals scored (19) and ranked fifth overall in total points (36). He was also named a finalist for CCHA's Best Defensive Forward Award and named to the CCHA's Second Team. In 157 career CCHA games with Northern Michigan, the 21-year-old recorded 54-63=117 totals.
Trotman is a 6'3", 216 lb. defenseman who recently finished his junior season at Lake Superior State University of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. In 40 games with Lake Superior this season, he set career bests in goals (11) and points (21), to go along with 10 assists. His 11 goals ranked second overall among all CCHA defenseman and his 21 points ranked ninth. In 114 career CCHA games with Lake Superior, the 21-year-old compiled 19-30=49 totals.
