Falcons Weekly Report: Falcons Falter After Christmas

The early to mid-November stretch where the Springfield Falcons won five of six games seems like a distant memory now, as the Falcons find themselves 2-7-1 in their last ten games and winless in their last six road games.

They certainly didn't do themselves any favors this weekend, getting dropped in both outings against the Syracuse Crunch and the Portland Pirates. Here's what you need to know about the week it was in Springfield.

Falcons Drop Both Matchups

Syracuse 3, Springfield 1

The Falcons were their own worst enemy Saturday night against the Crunch, jumping to a one goal lead in the first period, but going silent from then on out whilst surrendering three goals to Syracuse.

Eric Selleck's wrister put the Falcons up late in the first period. Come the second period however, the Crunch responded at 14:05 when Anthony DeAngelo found Brian Hart who put away the equalizer. Later in the frame at 1:59, Tye McGin added another for the Crunch to put them up 2-1 going into the third.

Four minutes into the third, Tanner Richard extended Syracuse's lead to 3-1, and the scoreline would stay that way through the remainder of the game. The Falcons ultimately pulled Niklas Treutle, who had 20 saves on the night, but neither team could find the back of the net in the closing stages of the game.

Portland 5, Springfield 1

The Falcons gave themselves almost no chance against Portland, dropping their fourth straight (out of five matches overall) against the Coyotes former affiliate.

The Pirates opened the scoring at 15:14 when Wade Megan went glove-high on Niklas Treutle. Treutle did turn away multiple shots in the period, especially on the power-play as Justin Hache and Christian Thomas both found themselves in the penalty box.

Things proceeded to get ugly in the second, as the Pirates quickly extended their lead to two at 5:52 and then promptly added another goal less than a minute later to go up 3-0. After Shane Harper potted yet another goal at 16:49, the Falcons found themselves entering the final period with a four-goal deficit.

Craig Cunningham, with the help of Jon DiSalvatore and Philip Samuelsson, put the Falcons on the board at 5:24 in the third period. Later in the period, Kyle Rau added a goal of his own at 11:20 to finalize the score at 5-1.

Niklas Treutle was peppered all night, making 11 saves while falling to 6-7-1 on the season.

Call-Ups/Send Downs

Craig Cunningham and Laurent Dauphin were called up to Arizona Tuesday morning.

Things to Note

• The Falcons have allowed 42 third period goals this season, the second most in the AHL.
• Springfield has allowed an average of 3.33 goals a game, good for third most in the league.
• The Falcons are 8-2-0 when leading after the first period.
• Jon DiSalvatore is on a four-game point streak, with a goal and three assists during that stretch. He has also registered seven points in his last eight games, with a goal and six assists.
• Jordan Szwarz returned to play on Sunday after missing 17 games with an injury.
• Defenseman Alex Grant is the current team leader in points with 22 (5 goals, 17 assists)

What's Next

The Falcons have three opportunities this week to redeem themselves and attempt to get back on track. They'll see the Providence Bruins at home Wednesday night, followed by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers also at home on Friday. They'll finish up their weekend on the road against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday.