Falcons edge Isotopes, Late game violence mars great game...

Curtis McElhinney is expected to survive

The Fort Erie Falcons defeated the Springfield Isotopes 4-3 on home ice Tuesday night in a game filled with controversy.

The Falcons were up 4-2 with a minute to play when a mad goalmouth scramble took place that saw Springfield's Brendan Gallagher drop an elbow to the head of Falcons' goaltender Curtis McElhinney.

McElhinney appeared fine on the play, but due to the league's concussion protocol, was forced to leave the game.

John Gibson entered the contest and surrendered a goal to Justin Williams with just eight seconds remaining in the contest, giving Fort Erie the win in McElhinney's first start of the year.

After the game, Fort Erie GM was furious about the Gallagher elbow on McElhinney.

"Did you see what Gallagher did to our goalie?  Does he think he's The Rock and this is wrestling?  He did a *explicit word* people's elbow to our goaltender and the refs claim that they didn't see it?  It's a joke.  The good news is that the camera did and we're going to be asking the league to look at it for supplemental discipline" said the irate General Manager.

Just when we thought he was done, Young continued to lash out.

Brendan Gallagher may not...

"I know Aaron Stacey (Springfield's General Manager) really well.  I know he had the team amped up for this game.  I saw his promotional video for their fan base for the game.  Perhaps he should make a video about how to play the game the right way and show it to that Gallagher kid."

The team announced that McElhinney will not participate or dress for the next three days as a precaution but McElhinney and noted that the goaltender felt fine following the contest.

The Falcons and Isotopes meet again on day 88 of the CCHL season and one can't help but wonder if Fort Erie will dress enforcer Derek Dorsett to potentially seek retribution for the elbow drop from hell.

Fort Erie is back in action this evening as the team hosts Long Island.  While the team has not yet announced a starter, it is expected that Philipp Grubauer could get the call in goal for Fort Erie.