Falcons edge River Rats in shootout

Chris Minard had seven goals in 37 games for the Albany River Rats, then a New Jersey Devils affiliate, during the 2005-06 season.

Tonight, the former Albany winger scored twice in regulation and had the only shootout goal Springfield would need in a 4-3 victory. Minard leads the Falcons with nine goals in 11 games, including five in the last two and seven in the last five.

"He's been excellent," Springfield head coach Rob Daum said. "Obviously, he's been scoring. He's been a real key to our power play. He finds ways to get open and we've been able to get him the puck, and he shoots it a ton."

Minard's linemate, Charles Linglet, assisted on both his goals, giving him two assists in each of the past two games and 10 in 11 games on the season.

"It's just a credit to my teammates, knowing how I play and how they play," Minard said. "I played with Linglet before in the East Coast League up in Alaska, so we have some chemistry together. We know where each other is, and it helps out this early in the season."

Albany managed to rally from a 2-0 deficit early in the second period to tie it at 2-2, and got a late goal from rookie Matt Pistilli -- his second of the night -- to force overtime and earn a point in the standings. Head coach Jeff Daniels was not pleased.

"That's about the only (good) thing was the point. Other than that, I thought we were awful," Daniels said. "It was everything. The effort. That's two games in a row where the effort hasn't been good. It starts by moving our legs. We're getting sloppy turning pucks over trying to be cute. If we play like that tomorrow night, we'll get embarrassed in Hershey. We've got to step it up."

The goals were his first two as a pro for Pistilli, who had 45 in 63 games for Shawinigan in his final junior season.

"It's good," Daniels said. "He had some chances over the last couple weeks, and it's good for him to get his confidence going. He came in here as a goal-scorer and he gets frustrated because he's had these quality chances. Tonight he got two, and hopefully he can build off that."

Minard recalled his short time in Albany, which he earned after skating with ex-Devils centerman Scott Gomez with ECHL Alaska during the 2004-05 NHL owners lockout.

"It does seem like a long time ago," Minard said. "Everyone was asking me if I played here and they're like, 'When did you do that?' I don't know how many years ago it was, but I enjoyed my time here. I have to thank the Devils organization for giving me that opportunity."


Springfield 0 2 1 0 1 -- 4
Albany 0 2 1 0 0 -- 3
Springfield wins shootout, 2-0.

First period -- None. Penalties -- Paiement, Alb (hooking), 10:47.

Second period -- 1, Springfield, Minard 8 (Linglet, Wiseman), 4:07 2, Springfield, Trukhno 1 (penalty shot), 5:37. 3, Albany, Pitsilli 1 (unassisted), 6:22. 4, Albany, Boychuk 4 (Samson, Bellemore), 16:18. Penalties -- Wild, Spg (holding), 7:29; FitzGerald, Alb (tripping), 13:06.

Third period -- 5, Springfield, Minard 9 (Linglet), 9:37 (pp). 6, Albany, Pistilli 2 (Reed), 13:43. Penalties -- Reed, Alb (delay of game), 8:31; Paukovich, Spg (cross-checking), 10:01; McDonald, Spg (hooking), 10:19.

Overtime -- None. Penalties -- None.

Shootout -- Springfield 2 (Minard G, Linglet NG, Potulny G). Albany 0 (Reed NG, Rodney NG, Bowman NG, Boychuk NG).

Shots on goal -- Springfield 9-22-5-1-1 -- 38. Albany 7-11-15-3-0 -- 36.

Goalies -- Springfield, Dubnyk 4-4-0-1 (37 shots-34 saves). Albany, Peters 3-2-0-1 (37-34).

Power-play opportunities -- Springfield 1 of 3. Albany 0 of 3.

A -- 2,422. T -- 2:19.

Referee -- Chris Brown. Linesmen -- Rich Patry, Chris Low.