Falcons fly past Albany

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - The Springfield Falcons continued their push for the playoffs on Friday night by defeating the Albany Devils at the MassMutual Center by a score of 5-2. The Falcons have now won five of their last six games and inched to within two points of third place Connecticut for the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. The Falcons are also three games over the .500 mark for the first time this season.

After Albany took the game's first lead when Jeff Prough scored for the Devils just 5:41 into the first period, the Falcons would take control of the game with five unanswered goals. Tom Sestito started the offense for the Falcons when he tied the score at 13:52 of the first period with his 10th goal of the year. Just 1:05 after Sestito's goal, John Moore gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead when he scored his fourth marker on the campaign giving Springfield a 2-1 lead through 20 minutes.

In the second period, the Falcons continued to apply pressure on Albany and generate multiple scoring chances. Maksim Mayorov converted on a breakaway at 10:10 of the second period giving the Falcons a 3-1 advantage. Tomas Kubalik and Tomas Kana would score 15-seconds apart late in the middle frame giving the Falcons a 5-1 lead through 40 minutes of play.

Falcons goaltender David LeNeveu won his second straight start stopping 25 of 27 shots on goal. Ben Guite collected a pair of assists on the evening and overall Springfield had nine different players collect at least a point on the night.