FALCONS WIN WILD ONE 7-6
November 21, 2008 - The Springfield Falcons beat the Norfolk Admirals 7-6 on Friday night at the MassMutual Center improving their record to 8-4-2-1 on the season. The Falcons had leads of 3-0, 4-2, and 5-3, but Norfolk used five power play goals to make this an entertaining night.
FALCONS AUDIO - Head Coach Jeff Truitt Recaps The Win
FALCONS AUDIO - Theo Peckham Recaps A Wild Night
The Falcons needed to rally from a 6-5 third period deficit to pull this one out on an evening where it seemed like everything bizarre occured. Theo Peckham's second marker of the night tied the score at 6-6 at 8:38 of the third period on the power play, while Tyler Spurgeon netted the game-winner at 12:50 of the final frame.
After some pre-game activity with players pushing and shoving, the game's first fight occured just one-second into the opening frame when Guillaume Lefebvre and Zenon Konopka dropped the golves with Lefebvre winning the bought.
The Falcons opened the scoring at 8:54 of the first period when Gilbert Brule tallied on the power play, followed by Carl Corazzini's second of the year just five-seconds later tying an AHL record for quickest two goals and giving the Falcons a 2-0 advantage. Springfield took a 3-0 lead when Peckham scored at 13:07 of the opening frame, but Norfolk responded at 18:00 when Brandon Segal converted on the power play cutting Norfolk's deficit to 3-1 after the first period.
Lefebvre and Konopka would fight again midway through the first period with each player landing a handful of punches.
In the second period, the scoring continued and didn't slow down. Brandon Bochenski scored on the power play at 1:42 of the second period cutting the Falcons' lead to 3-2, but Derek Bekar scored for the Falcons at 3:35 regaining Springfield's two-goal lead at 4-2. Jamie Heward tallied on the man advantage at 6:44 of the second period, only to Springfield's Bryan Lerg convert on a breakaway at 8:38 giving the Falcons a 5-3 advantage. Konopka cut Norfolk's deficit to 5-4 with a power play marker at 12:11, followed by Bracken Kearns tallying at 14:23 of the middle frame on the power play tying the score at 5-5 through 40 minutes of play.
PRE-GAME NOTES
The Falcons and Admirals went through an interesting pre-game warm-up with players pushing and shoving and a few punches being thrown before the game even started. It was a feeling of old-time hockey as it appeared Springfield's Theo Peckham and Norfolk's Jay Rosehill exchanged some words and some punches with Peckham not dropping his gloves.
FALCONS LINEUP
Schremp - Potulny - Lerg
Trukhno - Brule - Corazzini
Bekar - Spurgeon - Lefebvre
Sestito - O'Marra - Benson
Peckham - Bina
Chorney - Bisaillon
Young - Wild
Dubnyk
Fisher
Falcons Scratches - Mike Gabinet (Injured), Jake Taylor (Injured), Geoff Paukovich (Healthy), Kelly Czuy (Injured), Mathieu Roy (Injured),
GAME NIGHT NOTES………………
GAME SETUP: The Springfield Falcons and Norfolk Admirals meet for the first and only time in Springfield this season when they battle on Friday night at the MassMutual Center. The Falcons and Admirals will meet twice this season with the two teams concluding their season series next Wednesday in Norfolk.
The Falcons head into Friday’s action looking to rebound from a 3-0 loss suffered against the Worcester Sharks this past Sunday. The defeat ended Springfield’s six-game point streak (4-0-1-1) and dropped their record to 7-4-2-1 on the season. The Falcons will play three games in three days this weekend as they host Norfolk tonight, the Providence Bruins on Saturday and then head to Lowell on Sunday. Springfield is currently in third place in the Atlantic Division standings with 17 points, two points behind second place Providence and eight points behind first place Portland.
The Admirals visit Springfield nearing the end of a seven-game road trip that started in Lowell back on November 11. Norfolk has gone 2-2-0-1 on the voyage thus far, including a 4-3 loss suffered on Wednesday night in Worcester. Norfolk built a 2-0 first period lead on goals from Paul Szczechura and Wyatt Smith before the Sharks rallied for four straight goals to build a 4-2 advantage. Karri Ramo stopped 28 of 32 shots on goal for the Admirals in the loss. Norfolk concludes their road trip in Lowell on Saturday before returning home to host the Falcons on Wednesday.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: The American Hockey League announced Monday that Springfield Falcons goaltender Devan Dubnyk was named the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Nov. 16, 2008. In three starts, Dubnyk was 2-1-0 with a 1.30 goals-against average, a .968 save percentage and his first career AHL shutout.
Dubnyk faced 124 shots over the three games and allowed only four goals. He began the week with a 46-save shutout - the first whitewash by a Falcons goaltender in nearly two years - in Springfield's 2-0 win at Worcester on Tuesday, November 11. He followed that up by stopping 42 of 43 shots along with four of five shootout attempts en route to a 2-1 victory over Syracuse on Friday, November 14. And on Sunday, November 16, Dubnyk made 32 saves in a 3-0 loss to Worcester. In recognition of his achievement, Dubnyk will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Falcons home game.
A first-round draft choice (14th overall) by the Edmonton Oilers in 2004, Dubnyk is now 7-6-1 in 14 appearances this season, with a 2.44 GAA and a.924 save percentage. He has started every Falcons game this season and leads the AHL in minutes played (813), shots faced (433) and saves (400). The 22-year-old Calgary native spent all of last season with Springfield after making his AHL debut with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2006-07.
FALCONS TRANSACTIONS: The Falcons announced Monday that they have recalled left wing Bryan Lerg from their ECHL affiliate, the Stockton Thunder. The Falcons also announced that right wing Colin McDonald has been assigned to the Thunder.
This will be Lerg’s second recall from Stockton this season and the Livonia, Michigan native has appeared in seven games with the Thunder this season and has collected two goals and eight assists for 10 points and four penalty minutes. Lerg has also played in three games for the Falcons this season collecting one goal, his first AHL marker on October 31 against the Lowell Devils.
McDonald has played in 14 games for the Falcons this season and has collected two goals and two assists for four points and 20 penalty minutes. The Hartford, CT native is in his second professional campaign after spending the entire 2007-08 season with Springfield. In 73 games with the Falcons last year, McDonald registered 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points and 46 penalty minutes.
WELCOME BACK: With the Norfolk Admirals in town for tonight’s game, there is a long list of players on the Admirals roster that have seen time with Springfield during their careers. Starting with Norfolk head coach Darren Rumble, who saw time with the Falcons as both a player and assistant coach, other names include:
Blair Jones, Karri Ramo, Wyatt Smith, Matt Smaby, Jay Rosehill, Radek Smolenak, Justin Keller, and Andy Rogers. Smolenak is second on the Admirals in scoring with seven goals and nine assists for 16 points in 17 games, including a team-leading three power play markers as well.
