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Falcons flirting with four-game winning streak as they head south

Springfield will square off with the Eastern Conference's top team when it skates into a two-game set with Nortfolk on Friday.

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Springfield's Maksim Mayorov has rediscovered his scoring touch of late.

SPRINGFIELD – If the Springfield Falcons are going to win four in a row for the first time this season, they’ll have to do it the hard way.

That is, at Norfolk.

The Admirals have won nine in a row. They haven’t lost since Feb. 5, when the Falcons scored two goals in 30 seconds to beat them 4-2 at the MassMutual Center.

With rookies Cory Conacher and Tyler Johnson leading the attack and Dustin Tokarski posting a 1.83 goals-against average during the winning streak, the Admirals have taken command of the AHL’s East Division.

This, then, is the challenge the Falcons will face Friday at the start of a three-game road weekend. They’ll play Norfolk again Saturday, then bus it to Hershey, Pa., for a 5 p.m. Sunday game against the Bears, another East power.

“We’ll have one more good practice day here, then take the long ride to Norfolk on Thursday. Actually, that’s the only long one we have all season,” Falcons coach Rob Riley said.

Winger Maksim Mayorov, one of Springfield’s hot scorers lately, looks upon the Thursday trip as something that will be good for the team.

“We’re comfortable playing on the road. And it’s even better if we can go one day before,” he said.

Mayorov, who has had two 17-goal seasons in the AHL, boosted his season total to eight as the Falcons went 3-0 last weekend. He has played only 32 games because of injuries.

“Max has the speed and he’s getting the ice time. His overall game has improved,” Riley said.

“I’m trying to shoot more lately,” Mayorov said. “Sometimes it works.”

Regarding Springfield’s good performance last weekend, he said, “It’s a good example of what this team can do.”

The Falcons get a manpower boost this week with the return of center Cody Bass from a three-game AHL suspension for an illegal hit.

They also have added Nathan Longpre, a former Robert Morris University winger. He was obtained Tuesday from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL in a trade for future considerations. He’ll practice with the team for the first time Wednesday.

“I talked today to his college coach (Derek Schooley),” Riley said. “He calls him a good offensive player, one of the top kids in their league. We also got good reports on him from our scouts – a player who can handle all phases of the game.”

Longpre had eight goals and 18 points in 39 games with the Wolves.

ICE CHIPS: Springfield’s parent club, the Columbus Blue Jackets, could get forward Jared Boll back from injured reserve this weekend. If that happens, a forward (Cam Atkinson or Ryan Russell) could be heading back to the Falcons ... Nick Drazenovic, a solid center who has been injured for much of the season, is getting close to returning to action.

Garry Brown can be reached at geeman1918@repub.com


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