McElhinney solid in Falcons' win over IceCaps, Springfield scores three in 2nd

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - A big period and a hot goalie added up to a victory for the Springfield Falcons.

Curtis McElhinney made 46 saves for the Falcons and they put up three second-period goals, as Springfield downed the St. John's IceCaps 4-2 in American Hockey League action Saturday night.

Matt Calvert, Cam Atkinson, Ryan Johansen and Tomas Kubalik, with an assist, each scored for Springfield (14-4-4).

Maxime Macenauer and Paul Postma scored for the IceCaps (11-12-1).

"We didn't get enough traffic in front of McElhinney tonight. We had a lot of shots, but did we have quality scoring chances? I don't know," said St. John's forward Kevin Clark.

IceCaps head coach Keith McCambridge says the team needs to learn to be more consistent throughout the course of the game, especially with regards to second periods.

"It's something we're aware of, obviously. We have to make sure our middle periods are ones that we're better at. It reflects back on making sure consistency is there, making sure there's no drop off in your focus in the game," said McCambridge. "We've got to make sure that same intensity we bring in the third, the same intensity we bring in the first as of late, that has to be there in the middle period."

McCambridge felt that trailing off in the second period was a problem in both games of the series.

"I thought our third period, we had a real good push back again," said McCambridge. "Very similar game to last night. Our second period, we have some break downs, and it cost us in the back of the net."

Clark says the Falcons were exactly the team St. John's had prepared for, but it's frustrating for the team to not get any points on the weekend.

"They're a good team, you can see why they're top of the conference," said Clark. "We pushed back last night in the third, and tonight we didn't seem to have that push in the third. It's frustrating losing two, especially at home like that."

While the team is suffering from many injuries, McCambridge and Clark both felt it was an unacceptable excuse for the losses.

Clark says the team is close to teams like the Falcons.

"We can make all the excuses with injuries and our line-up might be depleted, but I think we're right there. We showed that last night and we showed it tonight up until the second period, we might have had a little lapse there."

St. John's power play went 2 for 5 while Springfield was 1 for 4 on the man advantage.

Mark Dekanich made 28 saves for the IceCaps.