FALCONS BEAT SHARKS 4-2 AT THE NEST

April 2, 2008 - The Springfield Falcons needed a win on Wednesday night and received a very strong victory beating the Worcester Sharks 4-2 at the MassMutual Center.  The Falcons now hit the road for three straight road games on the weekend starting in Wilkes-Barre on Friday.

Entering the third period in a 1-1 deadlock, the Falcons took the lead at 2-1 when Liam Reddox scored at 3:09 of the final frame.  The Falcons expanded their advantage to 3-1 when Rob Schremp scored his 20th goal of the season at 6:22 of the third period.  Worcester would cut their deficit to 3-2 when Mike Iggulden tallied at 18:23 of the third period, but Troy Bodie added an empty net goal in the final minute of play to cap off the 4-2 win.

The Sharks opened the scoring at 1:55 of the first period when Craig Valette scored his third goal of the season, but Springfield tied the score at 1-1 when Grant Potulny tallied on the power play at 18:40 of the opening frame.

GAME NOTES

Springfield native P.J. Fenton made his pro debut as a member of the Worcester Sharks.  Fenton played his college hockey at UMass-Amherst. 

Liam Reddox earned the first star with one goal and three assists, while Devan Dubnyk was the second star with 40 saves, and Rob Schremp was the third star with one goal and two assists.

FALCONS LINEUP

Goulet - Sestito - Werner
Potulny - O'Marra - McDonald
Schremp - Reddox - Trukhno
Bodie - Simon

Peckham - Anderson
Kemp - Rourke
Young - Wild

Dubnyk
Pitton

FALCONS SCRATCHES - T.J. Reynolds (Injured), Rick Berry (Injured), Mike Gabinet (Injured), Brad Farynuk (Healthy), Jonas Almtorp (Healthy), Sebastien Bisaillon (Injured), Jean-Francois Jacques (Injured), Bryan Ewing (Healthy), Jacob Micflikier (Healthy)

GAME NIGHT NOTES………………

GAME SETUP: The Springfield Falcons and Worcester Sharks meet for the eighth time this season and get together for the fifth and final time at the MassMutual Center this year.  The Falcons are 2-2-1-2 in the previous seven match-ups with the Sharks with Springfield beating Worcester in two of the last three meetings.  These two teams will play again on Sunday afternoon in Worcester, followed by a meeting on the final day of the regular season on Sunday, April 13 at the DCU Center. 
    Liam Reddox (2g,4a,6pts) and Rob Schremp (1g,5a,6pts) lead the Falcons in scoring against the Sharks this season with six points each, while Grant Potulny’s four-goal effort back on February 24 gives him the team lead in goals against Worcester with four.  Goaltender Devan Dubnyk has 0.84 goals against average and .955 save percentage in two appearances against Worcester this campaign.
   
    Graham Mink leads the Sharks in scoring against the Falcons with three goals and six assists for nine points in seven games.  Mink is tied with teammates Tom Cavanagh and Devin Setoguchi for the club lead in goals against Springfield this season. 
   
    The Falcons head into Wednesday’s action in fifth place in the Atlantic Division, five points behind fourth place Manchester.  Springfield will start four games in the next five days tonight as they head to Wilkes-Barre on Friday, Binghamton on Saturday, followed by a visit to Worcester on Sunday. 
   
    The Sharks are currently in sixth place in the Atlantic Division, nine points behind the Falcons.  Worcester will also play four games in the next five days as they host Portland on Friday, head to Manchester on Saturday, before hosting the Falcons on Sunday.

FALCONS TRANSACTIONS:  The Falcons announced Monday that they have reassigned goaltender Glenn Fisher to their ECHL affiliate, the Stockton Thunder.  The Falcons also announced they have signed goaltender Bryan Pitton to an Amateur Tryout Agreement (ATO). 

Pitton recently completed his third season with the Brampton Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League where he collected a record of 22-13-2 with a 2.54 goals against average and .911 save percentage in 39 appearances this season.  During the 2006-07 campaign, he made a club-record 61 appearances and also set team marks for minutes played (3,494), most starts (60) and most consecutive starts (19).  Pitton was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the fifth round (133rd overall) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

The Edmonton Oilers announced on Tuesday that they have signed center Bryan Lerg to a two-year NHL entry level contract.  The 5’10”, 175 pound forward from Livonia, Michigan completed his fourth and final season of collegiate eligibility with Michigan State University of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association last weekend as the Spartans were eliminated in the NCAA West Regional Final. The 22-year-old finished second on the Spartans scoring list and 11th in the CCHA scoring race with a career-high 20-19-39 in 42 games and registered 18 penalty minutes. He led Michigan State in both goals (20) and power play goals (10).  Twice named the Spartans’ Offensive Player of the Year, Lerg scored a career-high 23 goals and led the NCAA with eight game-winning goals as he helped Michigan State win the NCAA national championship in 2006-07. He added three more game winners this season.  Lerg scored 68-60-128 in 169 games with Michigan State during his four years with the Spartans from 2004-2008. 

SHARKS PLAYER MOVEMENT:  The Worcester Sharks made several roster moves on Tuesday.  Forward Jamie McGinn was reassigned from San Jose to Worcester.  The 19-year-old native of Fergus, Ontario just completed his 4th season with the Ottawa 67’s of the OHL.  Jamie, a 2nd round draft pick by the Sharks in 2006, recorded 58 points with Ottawa this season (29g-29a). McGinn will wear #18 for Worcester.
 
The Worcester Sharks signed defenseman David MacDonald and forward P.J. Fenton to amateur tryout agreements. 
 MacDonald, a 22-year-old native of Halifax, Nova Scotia signed with the Worcester Sharks after completing his 4th season with the Harvard Crimson recording seven points (2g-5a) through 34 games his senior year as co-captain.  The 7th round draft selection of the Sharks in 2004 will wear #4 for Worcester. 
 
Fenton, a 22-year-old native of Springfield, MA signed with the Worcester Sharks after completing four seasons with the UMass-Amherst Minutemen recording 28 points (9g-19a) through 36 games his senior year.  The 5th round draft selection of the Sharks in 2005 will wear #11 for Worcester.
 
In other moves, the Worcester Sharks released forward Oren Eizenman and defenseman Brian White from their player tryout agreements.  Eizenman recorded an assist in seven games with the Worcester Sharks while White recorded no points in two games played.