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www.falconsahl.com/user-cgi/pages.cgi?category=pressbox&level=2&dbkey=1150 Falcons Fought Until the Final Buzzer
"There's an old saying," said Frank Banham, "The harder you work the harder it is to surrender." That was the case tonight as the Falcons battled back from a quick two-goal deficit with a Fredrik Sjostrom goal in the second period but they Falcons would come no closer and their 2002-2003 season ended tonight at the hands of the Hamilton Bulldogs, 2-1.
The Falcons would not surrender, not until the final buzzer and with seven seconds left, the net empty and Rob Murray winning a key offensive zone face-off the Falcons still had a chance but Jeff Daw could not feather his shot through the seething mass of bodies between him and the net and the Falcons fell at the very end.
"I don't think there was a must-win game this year that we didn't win," said McSorely. Unfortunately, it is the last must-win game that the Falcons could not battle back to win.
The Bulldogs had the first chance on the power play when Fredrik Sjostrom held a Hamilton player behind the play. The Bulldogs entered into the game with one goal in 21 chances. They did not convert on the power play but as Sjostrom hustled back to his own zone a scramble in front of Pelletier led to Raffi Torres knocking in a rebound from the left side of the crease. It appeared that Hamilton scored a second before but Jean-Marc Pelletier, on his back, made a toe save to deny Michael Ryder from a goal but he could not fend off the four Bulldogs sniffing around his net and Torres broke free from the pack and knocked in the little rebound.
Springfield had its best chance when Jeff Daw intercepted a Hamilton pass and broke in on the Bulldogs goaltender two-on-one, but Frank Banham could not handle the behind the back pass, falling down on the play and allowing the Bulldogs to skate in on Pelletier but the trailer, Mike Komisarek, misfired on the shot and then Pelletier stoned Chad Hinz on the doorstep rebound.
The Bulldogs were skating rings around the Falcons and with Torres pressuring, Ron Hainsey fired a shot from the left point which Ryder tipped past Pelletier for his second goal of the playoffs, increasing the Bulldogs lead to two goals at 9:35.
The Bulldogs were back on the power pay at 10:02 with Jeff Daw in the box for high-sticking, but, as has been the case throughout the series, the Falcons stymied the Hamilton power play, forcing the Bulldogs to play a perimeter game for the two minutes. As the power play ended, Banham sprung out of the zone with a beauty of a break out pass and whizzed past both Peter Hogan and Ryder. The two bulldogs tried to slow down Banham as he set his sights on Ty Conklin but it was Conklin with a nice arm save that preserved the Bulldogs two goal lead.
Boyd Kane took a wicked slash to the left forearm from Mike Komisarek, giving the Falcons their first power play of the night. Erik Westrum fired a wrist shot from the point which had eyes to find its way through to Conklin but Banham, who was parked in front of the net could not get a stick on the puck before Conklin covered it up for a face-off. The Falcons had another good chance when Corey Foster blasted a shot in from the point but they could only managed those two shots before Komisarek was released from the box.
Martin Cibak finished his check on Mike Komisarek and was called for elbowing along the far dashers in the Bulldogs zone. Referee Ian Walsh immediately raised his arm for a delayed penalty and the boos rained down as Cibak skated to the penalty box at 17:19, giving the Bulldogs their third power play in the period. The Falcons killed off their third penalty but they ended the first period in a two-to-nothing hole.
Two turnovers in the Falcons zone, one by Sjostrom and another by Shane Willis almost cost the Falcons as Torres intercepted the second turnover and fired a shot into Pelletier that handcuffed the Falcons' goaltender and forced him to sprawl to the ice and cover the puck for a face-off.
Boyd Kane was tagged for a two minute minor for interference and just like that at 4:45 of the second period, the Bulldogs had their fourth power play of the game. Erik Westrum stole the puck from Marc-Andre Bergeron and was feet away from Conklin. Westrum deked left then right then left again only to have the puck skip over his stick and Westrum never even got a shot off on Conklin.
Another blown chance came off a two-on-one when Daw and Peter Fabus, playing for the injured Jeff Taffe, flew in on Conklin. Daw elected to keep the puck, firing a shot into Conklin's midsection. The rebound skidded to Conklin's left but Fabus over skated the puck and missed the puck and a wide open net.
But rookie Fredrik Sjostrom would atone for the missed chances by netting his second of the playoffs at 7:40 of the second period off a pass from Cibak and Goran Bezina, who set up the play.
"That was a big league goal," said Marty McSorely. "I don't know where he will be next year, weather it be here or in Phoenix but he has improved so much since I saw him in August."
Sjostrom almost had his second when he backhanded a rebound off of Foster's point shot but Conklin moved quickly from left to right and got his left pad on the rebound chance to keep the Bulldogs clinging to a one-goal lead.
Then Ryder interfered with Bezina along the boards in the Falcons zone and like that Springfield was on the power play for the second time on the night, but like Hamilton the Falcons had trouble keeping the puck in the offensive zone with aggressive fore-checking from Bill Lindsay and Chad Hinz, the Bulldogs had two shots the Falcons zero.
The Bulldog momentum continued with strong skating by Marcel Hossa in the Falcons' zone, forcing Martin Grenier to hold Hossa as he tried to a wrap-around shot from behind the net and thus the Bulldogs had their fifth power play chance of the game. This power play faired little better then the previous four tonight and the Falcons again killed of the man advantage.
Peter Fabus came inches from tying the game as his shot from the left face-off circle went through Conklin's legs but missed the right post by a whisker
Pelletier tried to clear the puck but sent it over the glass for a delay of game penalty at 4:15 of the third period and for the sixth time the Falcons played with the sleeping bear that is the Hamilton Bulldogs' power play but the bear never woke up and the Falcons killed of their sixth penalty in today's game.
Finally the Falcons received a break and as Boyd Kane drove to the ice he tripped over the puck, or perhaps the goal line, but Hinz who was shadowing Kane was called for tripping at 6:54. The Falcons crashed the net, shot from the point and from the face-off circles but only two shots found their way to the net and nothing passed through Conklin to keep the Falcons trailing by one goal half-way through the final period.
Captain Rob Murray was smashed by a Bulldog along the left dashers in the Hamilton zone. Murray lay prone on the ice before finally getting up, as the play was in the Falcons' zone, he skated passed the Bulldogs bench holding his limp arm but the arm was strong enough to belt Benoit Gratton in the face as Gratton leaned over the bench to say a few choice words to Murray.
Banham drove to the net after receiving a pass at the red line and Marc-Andre Bergeron had no choice but to hold on for dear life and he was rewarded with a penalty that he had to take lest Banham skate in all alone on Conklin. On the ensuing power play the desperation was evident in the Falcons play and they had two solid chances with Daw skating to the net and feeding a crashing Foster but Foster missed the puck as it jumped over his stick at the crease but the Falcons never got anything past Conklin on their fourth power play of the game.
Leroux fired a point shot that hit Sheldon Keefe in front of the net and Keefe could not wrap the puck around Conklin as the Hamilton goaltender came out of his crease to make the stop. With just over two minutes to go, Boud Kane turned around and fired a rising shot into the heart of Conklin but a quick whistle killed any chance of a rebound.
And the Falcons were down to their final 0:55 with a face off outside the Bulldogs' zone when Marty McSorely called a time-out to rally his troops. Pelleteir stayed in the nets as the crowd rose to their feet, urging on the Falcons. Pelletier came to the bench 10 seconds later and with the extra attacker the Falcons had one chance and it was Corey Foster who fired a slap shot which Conklin stopped five-hole. With seven seconds left it was Rob Murray to take the final face-off. Murray won the face-off to Daw at the right point but Daw could not find a seem through the crowd and never got a shot on net, finishing off the the Falcons 3 game to 1.
THE ZAMBONI ENTRANCE
Quotes from the Coach:
On his players :"The guys continuously battled this year. I am extremely proud of these guys..." "Sometimes people say that you don't have the talent, but boy they made up for it in other ways. Some guys are good regular season players but my guys are clutch performers."
The Hamilton Bulldogs were just 1 for 27 on the power play against the Springfield Falcons for a 0.037% in the four game series.
The Springfield Falcons killed 27 of 29 power plays in the two-series in which they played.
Shane Willis was the Falcons leading playoff scorer with four goals and two assists.
Rob Murray played in his 101st playoff game tonight.
Biased reporting but it's still interesting !
