ICECAPS
St. John’s

6-5

THUNDERBIRDS
Springfield

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings: 

[one_half]Hudon – Audette – Terry
de la Rose – McCarron – Friberg
Matteau – Eisenschmid – Farnham
Broll – MacMillan – Gregoire[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Hanley – Racine
Lernout – Barberio
Brouillette – Johnston[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders:

Danis
Lindgren

Scratches: Connor Crisp, Josiah Didier, Tom Parisi, Philip Samuelsson, Yannick Veilleux, Nikita Scherbak (undisclosed)

Injured Reserve: Martin Reway

Game Report

It was quite the start for the IceCaps in the first of two between them and the Springfield Thunderbirds. Just over four minutes into the game, the returning Charles Hudon poked home his tenth of the season past Mike McKenna. Just 54 seconds later, Joel Hanley doubled St. John’s lead, wiring his second of the season past McKenna and forcing head coach Geordie Kinnear to call a timeout just over five minutes into the game.

The timeout worked out for Springfield as Anthony Greco brought the Thunderbirds back within one following a Ryan Johnston turnover behind his net. Just over a minute later, the IceCaps were nailed for too many men on the ice, giving the Thunderbirds a man advantage. Though they did not equalize the score on the power play, Eric Robinson snuck his first of the season past Yann Danis a little while after the penalty expired to tie the game at 2-2. But the tie did not last long, as Chris Terry restored St. John’s lead and they headed to the dressing room for the first intermission with a 3-2 lead.

The second period did not go as smoothly for the IceCaps. Following a Mark Barberio hooking penalty, Dryden Hunt scored on the power play to tie the game up 3-3. After a significant amount of time spent in the IceCaps zone, Ryan Horvat gave the Thunderbirds their first lead of the night. It did not take St. John’s long to respond as Max Friberg poked home the rebound after some great work by Michael McCarron in front of McKenna. The teams headed to the intermission tied 4-4.

In the third period, the IceCaps found themselves with a man advantage after a Mike Sgarbossa holding penalty. However, on the power play, Jacob de la Rose was called for an unusual illegal equipment penalty. After some four-on-four, the Thunderbirds got a man advantage and they made St. John’s pay. Shane Harper scored and the ‘Caps had some work to do.

St. John’s got a huge opportunity following the Springfield goal when Chase Balisy got nailed for tripping. The power play came up big when they needed to and it was McCarron banging home the rebound off a Terry one-timer. Just under a minute later, Stefan Matteau deflected home a Barberio shot to give the IceCaps the lead and that was all St. John’s needed as they won 6-5.

Barberio was solid in his return to St. John’s, picking up three assists and the first star of the game and McCarron registered eight shots on goal to go along with his power play tally.  Both players were recalled to the Montreal Canadiens after the game.

The IceCaps have little time to celebrate, as they get back at it tomorrow night against the same Springfield Thunderbirds.

(Game Report written by Joseph Whalen, Staff Writer for AHL Report)

▲     Mark Barberio, Michael McCarron, Chris Terry, Max Friberg, Joel Hanley

▼     Jonathan Racine, Ryan Johnston

1. Mark Barberio  STJ
2. Chris Terry  STJ
3. Ryan Horvat  SPR

Post-game interview with Sylvain Lefebvre

Audio from interviews provided by Joseph Whalen for AHL Report | Rocket Sports Media.

Quotes courtesy of AHL Report

.@KidHud_10 tallies his 10th of the season to get the scoring started for the @IceCapsAHL. #SPRvsSTJ pic.twitter.com/cVf0GhNm2Q

— AHL (@TheAHL) December 9, 2016

Here's the Teddy Toss! So many stuffed toys! #IceCaps @TheAHLReport pic.twitter.com/QI7WXKyD3q

— Joe Whalen (@SportsFanJoe17) December 9, 2016

#Habs recall Mike McCarron & Mark Barberio from #IceCaps. Against Springfield tonight, Barberio had 3 assists, McCarron had a goal, 8 shots.

— All Habs (Canadiens) (@AllHabs) December 10, 2016

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