FALCONS BEAT PENGUINS 4-2

November 10, 2007 - The Springfield Falcons beat the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 4-2 Saturday night in front of 3,718 at the MassMutual Center.  The Falcons improved their record to 7-5-0-2 on the season and remain in second place in the Atlantic Division. 


Springfield built a two-goal first-period lead and never looked back in this contest.  The Falcons received a pair of opening period goals from defensemen, first by Rick Berry at 8:50 of the first period, followed by Theo Peckham at 17:07 of the opening frame.  The opening 20 minutes also featured the game's first altercation as Springfield's Ryan Flinn and Wilkes-Barre's Deryk Engelland picked up matching fighting majors.

In the second period, the Falcons built a 4-0 lead on a pair of goals from Jean-Francois Jacques, his first coming just 23-seconds into the middle period, followed by his second marker at 11:54 of the second frame.   Marc Pouliot collected a pair of assists, while goaltender Jefff Deslauriers stopped all 23 shots he faced through 40 minutes of play.

In the third period, Wilkes-Barre battled back with a pair of markers, the first by Tim Wallace at 3:31 of the final period, followed by Nathan Smith's third goal of the season at 12:39 of the final frame.  Deslauriers held down the fort the remainder of regulation turning aside 41 shots in total.

FALCONS LINEUP

Schremp - Thoresen - McDonald
Jacques - Pouliot - Reddox
Simon - Sestito - Bodie
Flinn - Spurgeon

Young - Syvret
Berry - Kemp
Peckham - Reynolds

Deslauriers
Dubnyk

FALCONS SCRATCHES - Stephane Goulet (Healthy), Viacheslav Trukhno (Healthy), Fredrik Johansson (Healthy)

GAME NOTES

Defenseman Theo Peckham missed the third period with an upper body injury.

Colin McDonald took a few stitches over the right eye after he was driven into the boards by Wilkes-Barre's Ryan Stone.

The Falcons will practice at 10 am on Sunday at the MassMutual Center.

GAME NIGHT NOTES………………

GAME SETUP:  The Springfield Falcons and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins meet for the first of only two meetings this season when they face-off at the MassMutual Center on Saturday night.  Tonight will be the Penguins only visit to Springfield this season and these two teams haven’t met head-to-head since February 18, 2006 when Springfield beat Wilkes-Barre 2-1 at the MassMutual Center.  Overall, this will be the 11th all-time meeting between Springfield and Wilkes-Barre with the Falcons winning five of the first 10 contests, losing three and having two games decided in overtime.  Springfield and Wilkes-Barre will conclude their 2007-08 season series when the Falcons head to Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, April 4.

    The Falcons head into Saturday’s action having snapped a five-game winless streak last night with a 4-2 win over Atlantic Division rival, the Lowell Devils.  Marc Pouliot led Springfield’s offense last night with two goals, earning the game’s first star.  Rookie Colin McDonald scored a power play goal goal for Springfield, while defenseman Danny Syvret also tallied his first marker of the year Saturday evening.  Springfield scored three power play goals in five opportunities Saturday night against Lowell.  Goaltender Jeff Deslauriers stopped 27 of the 29 shots he faced in earning his team-leading fifth win of the season.  The Falcons conclude a four-game home-stand tonight before heading to Worcester for a 1:05 pm matinee on Monday.  Springfield improved their record to 6-5-0-2 on the season with their win last night, good for second-place in the Atlantic Division standings, two points behind the Providence Bruins.

    The Penguins head into Springfield having blanked the Binghamton Senators Friday night by a score of
3-0.  It was Wilkes-Barre’s third straight victory.  Goaltender Ty Conklin collected the shutout making 22 saves in earning his sixth victory of the season.  The Penguins were led offensively by captain Nathan Smith’s one goal and one assist effort, along with center Ryan Stone also recording one goal and one assist.  Defenseman Mark Ardelan also tallied his first marker of the year for Wilkes-Barre on Friday evening.  The Penguins continue their four-game road trip tonight, as they will head to Philadelphia on Wednesday before concluding the voyage in Albany on Saturday.  Wilkes-Barre currently has a record of 6-5-0-0 through 11 games, good for fourth-place in the East Division.

TIME IN WILKES-BARRE LAST YEAR:  The Springfield Falcons have nine players on their current roster that saw time in Wilkes-Barre last season as part of the dual affiliation with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers during the 2006-07 campaign.  Defenseman Bryan Young, forwards Tyler Spurgeon, Tim Sestito, Jean-Francois Jacques, Marc Pouliot, Patrick Thoresen, Rob Schremp, and goaltenders Jeff Deslauriers and Devan Dubnyk all saw time with Wilkes-Barre last year.  Schremp was second on the Penguins in scoring last year with 17 goals and 36 assists for 53 points in 69 games.  Deslauriers led all Wilkes-Barre goaltenders in wins last year with 22 and in shutouts with four.

FALCONS TRANSACTIONS:  The Falcons announced Thursday that defenseman Allan Rourke has been recalled by their National Hockey League affiliate, the Edmonton Oilers.  Rourke will join the Oilers for their game on Saturday against the Calgary Flames.  The Falcons also announced that defenseman Bryan Young has been reassigned to Springfield by the Oilers.  In 12 games with the Falcons this season, Rourke has three goals and four assists for seven points, including two power play goals.  Rourke currently leads all Springfield defensemen in scoring and is fourth overall on the team in points.  Young was recalled by the Oilers on November 4 and played in two games with Edmonton not registering a point.  In 13 games with the Falcons this year, the Ennismore, Ontario native has one assist and 12 penalty minutes.

WELCOME BACK TO SPRINGFIELD:  There are a couple of familiar names to Springfield hockey fans on the Penguins roster including head coach Todd Richards and center Jeff Taffe.  Richards played for the Springfield Indians from 1990-1993 and was a member of the 1991 Indians Calder Cup championship team.  Richards collected 135 career points in 192 career games with Springfield.

Taffe currently leads the Penguins in scoring with seven goals and three assists for 10 points in 11 games played.  Taffe is currently tied for third in the league in goals this season.  Taffe was a member of the Falcons organization from 2002-2004 collecting 33 goals and 32 assists for 55 points in 72 career games.  Taffe led the Falcons in scoring during his rookie season of 2002-03 recording 23 goals and 26 assists for 49 points in 57 games.

SOLID BETWEEN THE PIPES:  Wilkes-Barre goaltender Ty Conklin has appeared in 10 of the Penguins’ 11 games posting a mark of 6-4 with a 2.19 goals against average and .920 save percentage.  Conklin is currently 12th in the league in goals against average and second in the league in minutes played with 603.  Conklin is also fifth in the AHL in saves with 253 and tied for second in wins with six.