Things you may need to know before the Devils and Falcons take to the ice at Times Union Center tonight:
-This is the first meeting of the season between the two teams. Considering the Falcons are the second closest team (about 80 miles) behind Adirondack, I’m a little surprised the schedule makers took this long. Anyway…they will face off three more times this season, on February 25th and April 8th in Springfield and March 12th in Albany.
-Standings: Springfield starts the day in 6th place in the Atlantic Division, with a record of 18-17-1-3, good for 40 points. They stand one point behind Bridgeport for the 5th place spot. After last night’s win over the Senators (and their 3rd in a row), Albany checks in at 16-20-0-3, good for 35 points. Don’t look now Binghamton, but they are 9 points behind you for 5th.
-Team Leaders: The Falcons are lead in scoring by recent acquisition Trevor Smith (who when last we saw him was dropping 4 goals on the Devils as a member of the Crunch) with 29 points (14 G, 15 A) and Dane Byers with 23 points (8 G, 15 A). David LeNeveu and rookie Gustaf Wesslau split time in net, with LeNeveu leading the way with 10 wins. On the home side…Matt Anderson has retaken the team scoring lead with 26 points (14 G, 12 A) over Michael Swift with 25 (15 G, 10 A). Jeff Frazee remains out with the ever popular “lower body” injury, so expect Mike McKenna to continue to see time (and if he continues to play the way he has I will not complain).
-Miscellaneous Facts: Falcons captain Ben Guite is a former River Rat (06-07), along with Steven Goertzen (09-10) and the recently demoted Mike Commodore (listed on the roster but has yet to make an appearance). Winger Tom Sestito is the younger brother of Tim, currently still on recall in New Jersey (I was so hoping for a family reunion on the ice, but not to be this time).
Game time at 7:00. It’s post game autograph session night, I will have my NJ media guide for autographs…along with the usual tweets and photos…
Thoughts Inside The Box 