Manchester Monarchs Drop Springfield Falcons 3-2 in AHL Shootout

November 28, 2009- In a game that saw a lot of close calls, pucks hitting the post and good scoring chances, the visiting Manchester Monarchs were able to defeat the Springfield Falcons for the second time in two days, this time 3-2 in a shootout.
 
The shootout was going Springfield’s way after Falcons goalie Andrew Perugini stopped the first two Manchester shooters and Chad Wiseman scored on the Monarchs giving a 1-0 shootout lead. Unfortunately for the Falcons things turned for the worse as Perugini allowed the next three shooters to score leading to the 3-2 shootout win for Manchester.
 
During the overtime, Falcons Perugini played outstanding, especially on one Manchester possession where he was not going to allow the Monarchs to get a puck past him. Perugini lost his stick in a scuffle in the crease, but continued on to block all shots, including using one of his fellow teammate’s hockey stick. Perugini was impressive in his first AHL start stopping 31 of 33 shots heading into the shootout.
 
“I think he did really well,” said Falcons Bill Thomas on Perugini’s performance, “That was a big stop he had in overtime. That guy was sitting backdoor and that guy has a lot of time and he [Perugini] gets over there and makes a big stop and keeps the puck out. He was able to keep the puck out and keep his composure.”
 
Despite getting the loss, Perugini looked like an experienced professional AHL goaltender tonight in his first career AHL start.
 
“It was awesome,” said Perugini on his first career AHL game, “Going into the game I basically just wanted to have fun with it. It’s a great experience and a lot of players strive to play games in the American Hockey League. I just want to take it all in and have as much fun with it as I could.”
 
Earlier in the first period, Manchester took a 1-0 lead thanks to Bud Holloway’s seventh goal of the season. Bill Thomas had a chance late in the period to tie the game for Springfield, but his shot hit off the post. The teams played each other evenly in the first, with each team going 0-1 on the power play in the period and the Monarchs outshooting the Falcons 14-9.
 
Early in the first period, Springfield’s Bryan Young checked Manchester’s Richard Clune into the boards which Clune did not appreciate as he immediately went after Young. The two dropped the gloves, ultimately with Young getting the best of the fight.  
 
Colton Fretter tied the game up 1-1 early in the second period with his ninth goal of the season, including his team-leading sixth power play goal of the year. Fretter extended his home scoring streak to 10 consecutive games. Thomas and Chris Armstrong assisted on the score.
 
Later in the period, the Falcons were on the power play again. However, this time the Falcons failed to score on the AHL’s fourth best penalty kill team. The closest Springfield got to scoring on the power play was a Chad Wiseman shot that just missed as the puck ricochet off the post. 
 
The second period continued on as a back and forth battle, with both teams taking quality scoring chances and neither able to find the net. Through 40 minutes of play, the two teams were playing an evenly matched game.  The Falcons may have been outshot 19-17, but the scoring chances for each team were even heading into the final period.
 
Early in the third period, it looked like the Falcons had a quality chance to score with Slava Trukhno on the break, but Manchester’s Marc-Andre Cliche hustled to interrupt the shot with an impressive slide to block the puck.
 
The third period was filled with missed opportunities for both the Falcons and Monarchs. Each team had breakaway rushes and open shots, but no one could find the back of the net until the 12:50 mark. Manchester took the 2-1 lead when Gabe Gauthier scored his fourth goal of the season.
 
Immediately following Gauthier’s goal, the Falcons sent a barrage of shots at Manchester goalie Jeff Zatkoff. Zatkoff made some highlight reel saves, but at 14:51 Springfield’s Wiseman slid one by Zatkoff to tie the game up and send the game into overtime. Thomas added his second assist of the game on the score.
 
“It’s tough,” said Thomas on the team’s shootout loss, “Goaltending played well. After last night, we were down 4-0 in the first period against a tough team we were able to come out tonight and they scored the first goal and we were able to battle back. Then they scored again and we were able to get that again. We just kept matching them every chance they got ahead of us...We just came up one short.”
 
It was an evenly matched game that looked like the Falcons were going to win after they came back from two separate one goal deficits and had an early 1-0 shootout lead.
 
“People that have seen us play know that we never quit regardless of the circumstances,” said Springfield Head Coach Rob Daum, “And we’ve been able to come back on a number of different occasions. You don’t want to put yourself in that position, but it is comforting to know that when you are in that scenario that you can score when you need to score and get points. I think that was the case tonight.”
 
The Falcons will look to end their busy week of games on a high note tomorrow afternoon at 3pm when they host the Portland Pirates at the MassMutual Center.
 
“We’ll just take it as it comes,” said Coach Daum on tomorrow’s game, “And not put the weight of the world on the outcome of tomorrow’s game. There’s lots of hockey to play and for us to have a successful weekend we have to get the game tomorrow.”
 
Game Notes
Before the game tonight, the Falcons held their first ever wedding on the ice. Tying the knot Saturday night were Lance and Shawna Koske. The Falcons would like to congratulate Lance and Shawna on their marriage...The official attendance for tonight’s game was 3,761...Making his AHL and Springfield Falcons debut tonight was goalie Andrew Perugini...Falcons Defenseman Bryan Young made his Springfield season debut tonight. Young previously played 137 games for Springfield during the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons...Manchester had three power plays in the game and all three were as a result of a Kip Brennan penalty...Manchester outshot Springfield 35-30.
 
Three Stars of Game
1st Star- Bud Holloway (1 G, 1 A) - MCH
2nd Star- Bill Thomas (2 A) - SPR
3rd Star- Gabe Gauthier (1 G) - MCH
 
Falcons Lineup
Charles Linglet – Chad Wiseman – Colton Fretter
Slava Trukhno – Jason Morgan – Bill Thomas
Liam Reddox – Geoff Paukovich – Ryan MacMurchy
Kip Brennan – Bryan Lerg – Jamie Bates
 
Johan Motin – Chris Armstrong
Bryan Young – Jake Taylor
Theo Peckham – Alex Plante
 
Andrew Perugini
Aaron Sorochan
 
Scratches
Chris Minard (Injured), Matt Nickerson (Healthy), Cody Wild (Healthy), Chanse Fitzpatrick (Healthy)

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