Sloppy defensive play extended the Falcons' slump at home.
Springfield's Ryan Russell, left, is pursued by Albany's Mattias Tedenby during the Falcons' 4-3 loss Thursday night at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.
SPRINGFIELD –The outstanding season being enjoyed by the Springfield Falcons comes with only one disclaimer.
It’s not a big blemish, considering Thursday’s 4-3 loss to the Albany Devils was just their fifth home game in 46 days.
Nonetheless, the setback at the MassMutual Center meant Springfield remains winless at home since Nov. 11. The Falcons are 0-3-2 in that time, but at least they’ll have plenty of chances to shake their downtown drought.
“Home or away, it doesn’t matter. We’ve got to play better,” said Springfield coach Brad Larsen, whose team is 6-4-4 at home this season.
“We just weren’t sharp. We played too much in our own zone in this game, and we defended in our zone as badly as I’ve seen this season,” Larsen said.
The Falcons nearly pulled off a miracle comeback. Trailing 4-1, they scored twice in the last two minutes; Cam Atkinson’s goal with 30.8 seconds left gave hope to the 3,444 who showed up for a rare Thursday night game.
With three seconds left, a wide-open David Savard’s attempt to tie the game from the right point hit the crossbar.
But Larsen said his team’s late burst could not excuse an otherwise insufficient performance.
“We got exactly what we deserved,” he said.
This was the start of a four-game Falcons homestand that resumes against Connecticut on Saturday night.
Springfield has been just fine on the road. In the same stretch beginning Nov. 11, the Falcons are 8-3-1 away from home.
But this just wasn’t their night. They fell behind on a disputed first-period goal and went scoreless for more than 35 minutes.
After Ryan Johansen’s goal cut Albany’s lead to 2-1 in the second period, the Falcons gave it back almost immediately, and Steve Zalewski’s goal at 1:53 of the third period gave the Devils a three-goal lead.
Zalewski cashed in with Albany working a two-man advantage.
The Falcons’ Matt Calvert backhanded in a rebound with two minutes left, and Atkinson followed, but it was not enough.
The Falcons have scored 13 goals in their last six games.
“The goals will dry up sometimes. They will come – I’m not worried about that,” Larsen said.
He was more concerned with the lackluster play in the defensive zone.
“You can’t let their guys roll out of the corner, facing up ice on their forehand. That happened over and over,” he said.
Coming off a 1-0 win at Hershey last Saturday, Springfield goalie Curtis McElhinney remained unscathed until 51.1 seconds were left in the first period. The Falcons claimed to no avail that Harri Pesonen kicked in Brandon Burlon’s shot.
“He kicked it in, but I don’t blame the referees,” said Larsen, who thought the play gave the officials a difficult view. “It was a judgment call. That was the least of our problems.”
There was no dispute on Stephen Gionta’s goal at the 11-minute mark of the second period. Left unattended near the right corner of the crease, Gionta redirected Corbin McPherson’s shot from the right point.
The initial shot was wide. McElhinney had no chance on the artful deflection.
Johansen made it 2-1, tipping in a rebound at 15:31 of the second. But it took only 31 seconds for Albany’s Joe Whitney to get the two-goal lead back.
McElhinney came in with a glittering 1.98 goals-against average and a 15-3-2 record. He has already set a franchise record with six shutouts, but too much was happening in his vicinity to make this a winning night.