The week started off with a rare Tuesday night game at The Nest. Rarer still was the starting time: 6PM. That’s the only 6PM start on the schedule this season, and probably just as well as the Falcons couldn’t seem to do anything right in the first period against the Worcester Sharks. The Falcons found their stride over the last 40 minutes, but it was too little, too late and the Sharks held on for a 2-1 win.
Friday night, the Falcons kicked off a four game road trip in Providence, RI. Again, a low scoring game with two solid netminders in Manny Legace for Springfield and Anton Khudobin for the Baby B’s. A late third period goal was the difference as the Bruins topped the Falcons by the same 2-1 margin.
Saturday night it was off to Albany, NY and a meeting with the Albany Devils. Yet another tight checking, low scoring affair which ended up tied at one apiece after 65 minutes of play. The Falcons set a new team record by going to the 11th round of a shootout and Brett Lebda (!) finally scored to put the game away for the Falcons with a final score of 2-1. Video of the shootout comes after the jump.
This week, the standings look like this:
AHL NORTHEAST DIVISION STANDINGS (as of 12/19/11):
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | GF | GA |
| Connecticut (NYR) | 28 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 36 | 90 | 81 |
| Adirondack (PHI) | 28 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 32 | 82 | 75 |
| Albany (NJD) | 28 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 29 | 65 | 86 |
| Springfield (CBJ) | 28 | 13 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 79 | 78 |
| Bridgeport (NYI) | 29 | 11 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 80 | 100 |
The Falcons are tied for 12th in the Eastern Conference with the Syracuse Crunch. Both clubs have 27 points. The current playoff cutoff are the Adirondack Phantoms in eighth place with 32 points. Five points out with 48 games left on the schedule. The optimist says “plenty of time”, the pessimist says the team is having difficulty finding the back of the net.
The AHL schedule slows down for the Christmas holiday. The Falcons only have one game this week. Wednesday night they take on in-state rivals, the Worcester Sharks at the DCU Center in Worcester in a 7PM game. The Falcons don’t play again until the following Wednesday when they head out to Syracuse for a game with the Crunch.
returned to the Falcons lineup this weekend after being out of the lineup for a few weeks. Maks didn’t figure in any scoring, although he potted a beauty in the shootout in Albany. All in all, he appeared to be skating well and if he can get acclimated to his linemates, his presence will be a help as the team can’t seem to buy a goal lately.
is tied for 8th in AHL scoring with his 29 points.
is tied for 5th among rookies in the league with 22 points. Atkinson’s 8 PPG are tied for 2nd in the league. Cam also has a five game point streak.
Falcons Individual Stats:
| Player | Pos. | GP | G | A | Pts. | +/- | PIM |
| Martin St. Pierre | C | 26 | 6 | 23 | 29 | +7 | 18 |
| Cam Atkinson | RW | 26 | 14 | 8 | 22 | +7 | 18 |
| Nick Drazenovic | C | 17 | 5 | 15 | 20 | -1 | 12 |
| Dane Byers X | LW | 23 | 7 | 9 | 16 | -7 | 63 |
| Alexandre Giroux | LW | 18 | 9 | 6 | 15 | +4 | 18 |
| Ryan Russell | C | 26 | 9 | 3 | 12 | -1 | 13 |
| Wade MacLeod | LW | 22 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 8 |
| David Savard | D | 20 | 2 | 8 | 10 | +4 | 20 |
| Nick Holden | D | 24 | 3 | 5 | 8 | -4 | 14 |
| Ryan Garlock | C | 25 | 1 | 7 | 8 | -4 | 11 |
| Cody Goloubef | D | 21 | 0 | 8 | 8 | -7 | 29 |
| Brett Lebda | D | 16 | 1 | 6 | 7 | +2 | 6 |
| Brent Regner | D | 27 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| Tomas Kubalik | RW | 18 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 18 |
| Cody Bass | C | 10 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -1 | 35 |
| Andrew Joudrey | C | 26 | 2 | 4 | 6 | +1 | 2 |
| Matt Calvert | LW | 15 | 3 | 2 | 5 | -5 | 8 |
| Mike Thomas | RW | 20 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -6 | 9 |
| Adam Mair | C | 20 | 0 | 4 | 4 | -3 | 41 |
| Aaron Bogosian | LW | 20 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 16 |
| Ray Macias X | D | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +3 | 0 |
| John Moore X | D | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 2 |
| Teddy Ruth | D | 17 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 9 |
| Tim Spencer | LW | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Oliver Gabriel X | LW | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -5 | 0 |
| Dalton Prout | D | 22 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -6 | 18 |
| Patrick Cullity (with Springfield) | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Manny Legace (with Springfield) | G | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Chaz Johnson X | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Anton Blomqvist | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 7 |
| Darcy Campbell X | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Paul Dainton | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Allen York X | G | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steven Delisle X | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 8 |
| Maksim Mayorov | LW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Danny Taylor X | G | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Manny Legace checks in at 11th in the AHL with a 2.26 GAA and a .922 save percentage. Manny has started the last six straight games for the Birds, and is carrying a sizzling .940 save percentage in that span.
Transactions This Week:
Dec. 12: Dane Byers (LW) recalled by Columbus
Dec. 15: Patrick Cullity (D) signed to PTO
Dec. 18: Darcy Campbell (D) released from PTO
Media This Week:
In his weekly blog, Bruce Landon talks about travel in the AHL, then and now.
Injury Report:
Out of the lineup this week: Anton Blomqvist, Nick Holden, Nick Drazenovic, Wade MacLeod and Cody Goloubef
The only game this week will be Wednesday night in Worcester when the Falcons visit the Shark-tank East. Game time is 7PM.