Friday Night on Ice: Worcester Sharks Vs. Springfield Falcons
By Ryan Bayer
Worcester Sharks forward #7 John McCarthy prepares for a faceoff against #9 Ryan Johansen during the January 11, 2013 game at the DCU Center. Mandatory credit: Worcester Sharks media department.
Today the Worcester Sharks take their game on the road as they face off against their state rivals the Springfield Falcons. The last time these two teams meet was back on January 11, 2013 in which the Sharks defeated the Falcons by a 4-3 final. In that contest, Worcester had the contributions of Hamilton, Urban, Kearns, and Nick Petrecki who scored his first goal of the season. The Sharks are are 35-17-3 all time vs. Springfield. As of today Worcester is 1-0 on the season series vs. the Falcons.
Currently Worcester is ridding a five game loosing skid that includes 4 regulation loses and 1 shootout lose. As for Springfield, they are on a hot streak as they have won six in a row all of which were in regulation.
The Sharks enter tonight’s contest with a 19-17-1-3 record and are in fourth place in the AHL’s Atlantic Division with 42 points. For the host team the Falcons they are the current leaders of the Northeast Division with an impressive 25-9-3-3 record that includes leading the AHL in points with 56.
Fun Facts:
Audy Marchessault leads all current AHL players with 44 points (16-28-44) in 40 games while goaltender Curtis McElhinney leads the AHL with six shutouts.
****Springfield will attempt to tie the second-longest winning streak and the longest points streak in franchise history tonight. The Falcons’ record for the longest winning streak is nine games, set from Mar. 6 to 28, 1998. Springfield won seven-straight contests from Mar. 30 to Apr. 12, 1997, its second-longest victory streak. In addition to posting victories in six-consecutive contests, Springfield is on an eight-game points streak (7-0-1-0) and has not lost in regulation since Jan. 5 in Albany. The Falcons’ nine-game winning streak in March of 1998 is tied for the longest points streak in club history. Springfield also posted a point in nine-consecutive outings from Oct. 19 to Nov. 16, 1996 (7-0-2-0).****
****Stats courtesy of the Springfield Falcons.****
Official Link: http://www.falconsahl.com/index.php?id=2347
Tonight’s contest is the second of eight total meetings between these two Massachusetts based AHL franchises. The game has a 7:00p EST puck drop at the Mass Mutual Center and be heard on WTAG News/Talk 580 and 94.9 FM. In addition, tonight’s matchup is also available to subscribers at AHL Live.
LET’S GO SHARKS!!!!!!!!
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