The playoff-bound Falcons are still making a push for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
SPRINGFIELD – After 74 games and a ton of hard work, the Springfield Falcons have arrived at a showdown with the red-hot Providence Bruins.
The teams meet Friday night in Providence at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. If the Falcons win, they remain in contention for first place in the American Hockey League’s Eastern Conference with one game to play (Saturday at Adirondack).
If the P-Bruins win, they clinch everything – not only top spot in the East, but top spot in the 30-team AHL. That would mean home-ice advantage throughout the Calder Cup playoffs.
As Northeast Division champions, the Falcons are assured of one of the top three seeds in the Eastern Conference portion of the playoffs, which open April 27. The quarterfinal pairings will not be known until all results are in Sunday, the last day of the regular season.
In their Providence assignment, the Falcons most likely will face Niklas Svedberg, who was named Thursday to receive the Baz Bastien Award as the AHL’s top goaltender.
Svedberg, a 23-year-old rookie from Sollentuna, Sweden, has a 36-8-2 record and 2.15 goals-against average. He has been especially tough on home ice, going 19-3-2 with a still-intact nine-game winning streak.
One of those losses came against the Falcons. With Curtis McElhinney in the nets, the Birds won 3-0 at Providence on Oct. 26. They took the division lead that day, and never lost it.
The Falcons have beaten the P-Bruins four times, but not lately. They have lost the last three meetings while being outscored 10-4.
Since the beginning of January, Providence has played at an unreal pace of 31-10-0-3. In March, the P-Bruins made their big push past Portland in the Atlantic Division by going 10-3-0-1.
The Falcons head for Providence after rallying to win 4-3 Wednesday night in Worcester. In that one, they showed that they know how to close out a game, holding the Sharks scoreless in the third period after pulling ahead in the second.
ICE CHIPS: Falcons defenseman David Savard is with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Springfield’s parent club. The Jackets have streaked into the playoff fight ... Center Lukas Sedlak, a Columbus sixth-round pick in 2011, has been signed by the Falcons to an amateur tryout agreement upon completion of his season with Chicoutimi of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League ... The Falcons have released defenseman Tom Larkin from his ATO ... Svedberg has been involved in 10 shootouts, winning eight of them ... Spencer Michacek, acquired in a trade for Tomas Kubalik, has scored four goals for the Falcons in his last seven games ... Michael Chaput also has been productive lately, pushing his goal total to 13 ... Rookie Boone Jenner, hero of Sunday’s home finale, scored again in the Worcester game ... The Falcons stand 20-11-4-1 in road games. The P-Bruins are 24-9-0-3 at “The Dunk.”