FALCONS FALL SHORT IN MANCHESTER

March 12, 2008 - The Springfield Falcons lost to the Manchester Monarchs 3-1 on Wednesday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena snapping their two-game winning streak.   Springfield does maintain a four point lead over Manchester for the final playoff spot within the Atlantic Division.


After a scoreless first period, Manchester opened the scoring at 2:50 of the second period when Lauri Tukonen scored his seventh goal of the year, followed by Brian Boyle converting on the power play at 14:15 of the middle frame to give Manchester a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes of play.

Manchester expanded their advantage to 3-0 at 14:16 of the third period when Teddy Purcell scored his 17th marker of the year.  Springfield's Viacheslav Trukhno cut the Falcons' deficit to 3-1 at 17:15 of the final frame ending Manchester goaltender Jonathan Quick's shutout bid.

GAME NOTES

Viacheslav Trukhno extended his scoring streak to six games.

Ryan Garlock made his Falcons debut.

Ludlow, MA native and LA Kings GM Dean Lombardi was in attendance.

FALCONS LINEUP

Potulny - Simon - Schremp
Trukhno - Reddox - Goulet
Almtorp - Sestito - Werner
Garlock - McDonald

Peckham - Gabinet
Kemp - Young
Berry - Farynuk

Deslauriers
Dubnyk

FALCONS SCRATCHES - Troy Bodie (Injured), Kenny Smith (Healthy), Les Reaney (Healthy), Jacob Micflikier (Healthy), Ryan O'Marra (Injured), Allan Rourke (Injured), Sebastien Bisaillon (Injured), Jean-Francois Jacques (Injured), T.J. Reynolds (Injured)

PRE-GAME NOTES

Here we go again, the Springfield Falcons are headed to Manchester to battle the Monarchs for the second time in the last 10 days with playoff positioning on the line on Wednesday night.  The Falcons have won their last two games since their last visit to Manchester, which ended in a 5-2 setback back on March 2.

Springfield remains in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 29-25-5-5 good for 68 points, only six points ahead of Manchester for the final playoff spot.  The Falcons have gone 2-3-1-0 against the Monarchs this year, including 0-2-1-0 at the Verizon Wireless Arena.  With only 16 games remaining in the regular season, the importance of Wednesday's game isn't being ignored by the Falcons and their coaching staff.

"There is a lot of hockey to be played and every game is important," said Falcons head coach Kelly Buchberger.  "We have to stay focused on competing for the full 60 minutes, when we do that, we have success."

The Falcons head into the stretch run battling for a playoff spot for the first time in a few years.  In fact, the Falcons next win will be their 30th victory of the campaign and it will be the first time they have reached the 30-win plateau since the 2002-03 season.  Also, the Falcons highest point total in a regular season since the 1998-99 campaign is 80, and Springfield is 12 points away from equaling that total with 16 games left in the season.

FALCONS PRE-GAME PLAYER NOTES

Viacheslav Trukhno is currently on a five-game scoring streak collecting four goals and three assists for seven points in that span. 

Stephane Goulet had a career-high three-point game on March 8 against the Hershey Bears scoring two goals and adding one assist.  Goulet was the game’s first star on March 8.  Goulet has goals in back-to-back games entering this week’s action.

Liam Reddox has registered a point in five of his last six games collecting two goals and seven assists in that span. 

T.J. Kemp is on a three-game scoring streak collecting four assists in that span.  Kemp is 10th in the league in scoring among defensemen.

Rob Schremp has points in three straight contests collecting two goals and two assists in that span.  Schremp netted the game-winning marker on March 8 against Hershey.

The Falcons are 3-1 in the month of March, including a perfect 3-0 at the MassMutual Center.

Theo Peckham made his NHL debut as a member of the Edmonton Oilers on March 7 at Columbus, but returned to the Falcons the very next night and helped Springfield to a 5-4 win on March 8 over Hershey.