The Falcons capitalized, scoring four first period goals to set the pace. More on the Falcons big win after looking at other key matchups from Saturday night:
Albany 3 at Adirondack 4
The Devils trailed 4-1 after two periods. Michael Leighton turned aside 8 shots in the third period, giving the Phantoms two crucial points.
Manchester 5 at Portland 2
Manchester rode Martin Jones‘ 40 save performance to a big win on the road. Conversely, the Monarchs only fired 17 at Justin Pogge, cashing in on nearly one third of them.
Providence 2 at Worcester 0
I attended this game and what a beauty! The second B’s goal was an empty netter, so this was a hard and fast one goal game throughout. Michael Hutchinson was outstanding, turning away 34 Sharks shots, while Tyson Sexsmith was almost as good in the Worcester cage. Something else I haven’t said all season: a well-officiated game by referee Francis Charron!
Norfolk 3 at Connecticut 1
This one wasn’t on my radar, due to both teams being firmly locked into the top 8 in the East. I thought I’d mention it though, as it extends the Norfolk win streak to an amazing 14 straight!
Springfield tallied the first three goals of the game. The first was a power play goal. As many times as I say it, Alexandre Giroux was camped out at his favorite spot. After taking a pass from Martin St. Pierre, Giroux let one fly and Tomas Kubalik tipped it in for his 9th of the season. Matt Calvert picked up his 13th only 23 seconds later, on assists from Nick Drazenovic and Wade MacLeod. Cody Bass, whose season was projected to be all over several months ago, showed once again what leadership is all about. With Byers recalled, Bass stepped up, scoring his 4th of an injury plagued season on a power play at 15:09. Assisting Bass were Kubalik and Giroux.
The Crunch got on the board when Troy Bodie scored an unassisted shorty at 15:45. The high octane first period wasn’t complete without another Falcons goal. Wade MacLeod picked up his seventh of the season on the power play at 16:59, assisted by Calvert and Drazenovic.
Manny Legace was back in the Falcons net for the first time in three weeks. Legace’s injuries may have healed, but he was suffering from flu like symptoms, and still wasn’t quite himself. When the Crunch scored their third goal of the second frame, making the score 5-4 in favor of Springfield, off came Manny and in came Paul Dainton.
The Falcons fifth marker was another Tomas Kubalik goal, this one assisted by Martin St. Pierre.
With the lead down to one, the Falcons were faced with a penalty kill situation when Wade MacLeod was boxed for hooking. Cody Bass has the opportunity for a breakaway on the PK, and was hauled down on the play. Bass was awarded a penalty shot, and converted giving the Falcons a two goal lead.
The third period was tense, as Patrick Maroon brought Syracuse back to within a goal at 11:51. Dainton was perfect the rest of the way as the Falcons earned a huge two points with the regulation time win.
The Falcons will have Greg Amadio back in the lineup today. Amadio has served his two game suspension for his part in the pre-game fracas last weekend in Norfolk. Adam Mair will be sitting out his third and final game of a three game suspension. The Falcons take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 3PM.
Elsewhere around the AHL, the weekend concludes with these matchups:
Connecticut at Manchester
Albany at Syracuse
Adirondack at Worcester
Providence at Portland
Stay tuned to The Cannon as the Falcons continue their drive to make the Calder Cup playoffs!