FALCONS EARN POINT ON ROAD
November 7, 2008 - Friday's game in Portland was previewed as an early season showdown between two very good teams within the Atlantic Division and that is exactly how it played out at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The Falcons rallied from a 1-0 third period deficit to skate away with a point losing to the Pirates 2-1 in a shootout. The Falcons are now 5-3-1-1 on the season as they head into Hartford on Saturday.
Trailing 1-0 entering the final 20 minutes of play, the Falcons tied the score at 1-1 when Colin McDonald's shot from the goal line found the back of the net at 4:35 of the third period, his second marker of the year. Midway through the second period, McDonald thought he had tied the game when his rebound of a Derek Bekar shot inched towards the goal line, but the puck didn't appear to cross the red stripe.
>>FALCONS AUDIO - Head Coach Jeff Truitt Recaps The Point
>>FALCONS AUDIO - Colin McDonald Talks About Game-Tying Goal
Falcons goaltender Devan Dubnyk and Pirates netminder Adam Dennis were both solid in goal with Dubnyk finishing with 32 saves and Dennis ending the night with 26 saves.
The Pirates opened the scoring at 9:45 of the second period when Mark Mancari scored on the man advantage assisted by Nathan Gerbe.
GAME NOTES
Defenseman Mathieu Roy made his 2008-09 Falcons debut tonight after missing seven games due to injury.
The Falcons announced they recalled defenseman Rob Bina from their ECHL affiliate, the Stockton Thunder.
Captain Tim Sestito played in his 100th career AHL game.
Tyler Spurgeon played in his 100th career pro game.
FALCONS LINEUP
Schremp - Potulny - Corazzini
Goulet - Brule - Trukhno
Bekar - Spurgeon - McDonald
Reddox - Sestito - Lefebvre
Wild - Roy
Chorney - Taylor
Young - Bisaillon
Dubnyk
Fisher
FALCONS SCRATCHES - Bryan Lerg (Healthy), Mike Gabinet (Injured), Geoff Paukovich (Healthy), Ryan O'Marra (Healthy), Kelly Czuy (Injured), Hans Benson (Healthy)
PREGAME REPORT
The Springfield Falcons are in beautiful Portland, Maine on Friday as they prepare to take on the Pirates tonight at the Cumberland County Civic Center starting at 7:00 pm. The Falcons made the three-hour voyage north on Thursday and spent Thursday evening in Portland. Many members of the Falcons organization were able to find a local sports restaurant to watch the Edmonton Oilers play the Pittsburgh Penguins. Theo Peckham, who was recalled on Thursday, played for the Oilers against the Pens on Thursday night.
The Falcons face a very good Portland Pirates team, a club that is leading the Atlantic Division with a record of 7-1-1-0 on the young season. Rookie Nathan Gerbe is off to a great start to the season for Portland having registered a hat trick on Wednesday night in Worcester. Gerbe is second in the AHL in goals with 10, which also leads all AHL rookies in scoring as well.
The Falcons and Pirates last met back on October 18 when Portland crashed Springfield's home opener handing the hometown team a 3-2 defeat. Springfield has posted a record of 4-1 since the game on October 18 including two straight victories on the road.
GAME NOTES
- The Pirates enter tonight's game with three playes in the top six in scoring in the league. Mark Mancari (3rd - 7-10-17), Tim Kennedy (5th - 8-8-16), and Nathan Gerbe (6th - 10-3-13) are the top three snipers for the Pirates and have helped Portland to an impressive 7-1-1-0 start to the season.
- Kennedy and Gerbe are the top two scoring rookies in the AHL.
- Gerbe leads the league in power play goals with six.
- Kennedy is second in the league in assists with 12.
- Portland goaltenders Jhonas Enroth and Adam Dennis have shared the goaltending duties thus far with Enroth leading the pace with a 4-1 record and 2.61 GAA and .920 save percentage.
- Specialty teams will also be a factor tonight with Portland ranking 5th in the league on the power play with a success rate of 20%, tied with the Falcons also at 20%.
FALCONS PREGAME NOTES
Springfield Falcons center Ryan Potulny continued his goal scoring production this past weekend scoring three goals in two games as he now leads Springfield in goals with eight markers in nine games played. Potulny scored his second power play goal of the year on Friday, October 31 in a 4-1 Falcons’ win over the Lowell Devils. The following night in Lowell, Potulny added two goals and was the game’s top star.
Liam Reddox extended his goal scoring streak to three games when he netted a pair of markers on Friday, October 31 earning the game’s top star. Reddox scored four goals in a three-game span from October 24-31. Overall, Reddox is on a five-game point scoring streak collecting four goals and two assists in that span. Reddox is tied with Ryan Potulny for the club lead in scoring with eight points each.
Liam Reddox and Ryan Potulny lead the Falcons in game-winning goals with two each.
Rob Schremp added three more assists in two games this past weekend improving his team-leading mark to eight assists in seven games.
Goaltender Devan Dubnyk was in goal for both wins this past weekend stopping 42 of a possible 45 shots on goal. Dubnyk has started all nine Falcons’ games this season posting a 2.89 goals against average and .902 save percentage.
Rookie Bryan Lerg scored his first AHL goal on October 31 against Lowell earning the game’s second star. Lerg led the Falcons in goals in the preseason with three and he has one marker in three regular season games with the Falcons.
The Falcons’ penalty killing units were outstanding this past weekend successfully defending all 14 shorthanded situations in a pair of wins over the Lowell Devils. The Falcons have killed off 30 of their last 31 shorthanded situations for a success rate of 97% in that span.
