Falcons Hit Bumpy Weather During Recent Stretch

Ain't No Sunshine for Falcons at Home Lately

If you asked the Fort Erie Falcons ten days ago, they were a confident group heading into a three game home stand.  The focus was to make the most of it, as a four game road trip was awaiting the team on days 32 to 38.

Unfortunately for the Falcons, in sports, confidence can come and go quickly.  Fort Erie only managed to collect three of six points on the home stand and have lost both road games to start the trip.  After a great start that saw the team go 9-2 out of the gate, the team has only managed one win in their last five.

The latest set back came on Wednesday night in Niagara Falls where the team only managed one goal on 31 shots; one of their lowest shot totals of the season.

Entering the game, Niagara Falls had been playing well below the expectations of GM Bobby Nicol.  The one thing Fort Erie could count on though was a tough game against their QEW rival.  It was also exactly what they got.

Niagara Falls opened the scoring early in the second frame, as a Cam Atkinson seeing-eye-shot found it's way past Fort Erie goaltender John Gibson. 

Niagara Falls maintained that slim one goal lead until Nick Foligno put them up by two at about the halfway mark of the third period.

Max Pacioretty scored his 11th of the campaign just four minutes later to cut the Thunder's lead to one, but Fort Erie could not find the equalizer in the final six minutes of the game.

"It's pretty disappointing to lose tonight and with only one win in the last five games, we're just not playing good enough right now" said Pacioretty post-game.

Sam Reinhart was held pointless for the second straight contest and appears to be cooling off after a hot start that saw him post 25 points in his first 14 games.

Getting Reinhart back on track will be a key for Fort Erie going forward, as they head into a tough road game in Dartmouth on Friday night.

"We've got to find a way to be better in Dartmouth than we were tonight.  Talbot stopped 48 Halifax shots tonight to get the shutout.  He's at the top of his game and we need to figure this thing out and fast" answered GM Matt Young when asked about Friday's game against the Lakers.

While it's far too early to push the panic button in Fort Erie, the fact that the team is struggling right now is cause for concern.  While you never want to declare a game a must-win game in the first twenty games of a season, Friday night is as close as it gets for Fort Erie.