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 Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Weekly Report

March 16, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

Vs. Lowell (3/13): The Manchester Monarchs' six-game winning streak came to an end as they fell to the Lowell Devils, 3-1, in a close game that came down to goaltending on Go Green Night at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday night. Monarchs' left wing Scott Parse scored the lone goal for Manchester. Right wing Nicklas Bergfors scored two goals for the Devils and defenseman Jay Leach added an empty netter. Monarchs' netminder Jonathan Bernier (19-18-3) took his 18th loss of the season stopping 27-of-29 shots. Devils goaltender Jeff Frazee (23-14-5) saved 33-of-34 shots for his 23rd win of the season. Manchester went 1-for-3 on the power play. Lowell was 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

Vs. Worcester (3/14): The Manchester Monarchs ran into red hot goaltender Thomas Greiss and fell to the Worcester Sharks, 4-2, at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday night as Monarchs Country celebrated Rock The Mullet Night. Centers Brian Boyle and Marty Murray lit the lamp for Manchester. Center Tom Cavanagh, defenseman Derek Joslin, right wing Ryan Vesce and center T.J. Fox scored for Worcester. Monarchs' goaltender Jonathan Bernier (19-19-3) took his 19th loss of the season stopping 23 shots. Sharks' netminder Thomas Greiss (21-19-2) earned his 21st win of the season with 29 saves. Manchester went 1-6 on the power play. Worcester was also 1-6 with the man advantage.

MONARCHS NEWS & NOTES

Manchester (33-28-0-6, 72 points) fell to the Lowell Devils on Friday night for their first loss in regulation in their last eight games and ended a six-game winning streak. The Monarchs two losses this weekend did not drop them out of third place in the Atlantic Division but the Portland Pirates (31-26-3-6, 71 points) and Worcester Sharks narrowed the gap in the standings to just one point. The Providence Bruins (38-24-2-4) lead the Atlantic Division with 82 points and the Hartford Wolf Pack (37-25-3-3) rank second with 80 points. The Springfield Falcons sit in last place with 51 points (20-37-7-4).

The Monarchs are 7-2-0-1 in their last 10 games. Following a six-game winning streak, Manchester is on a two-game skid.

The Monarchs are in 12th place in the AHL on the power play. The team is 54-for-309 with the man advantage for a 17.5-percent rating.

Manchester has stopped their opponent 275 times on 322 power play opportunities for an 85.4-percent rating this season, good for sixth place.

The Monarchs have a winning record on two days of the week, Wednesdays and Fridays. Manchester is 7-2-0-1 on Wednesdays and 11-7-0-3 on Fridays. The Monarchs are 8-13-0-0 on Saturday's and 4-5-0-1 on Sunday's this season.

When the Monarchs score first, they have gained a point in every game but five. Manchester is 21-5-0-4 in the 30 games where they have scored first.

Manchester is 18-3-0-3 when they have the lead following the first period. They are 23-3-0-2 when leading after two periods.

The Monarchs are undefeated when scoring four or more goals (15-0-0-0) and are 13-4-0-2 when they tally three goals in a game.

After going 2-4-0-1 in the month of October, the Monarchs went 7-4-0-2 in November, 7-6-0-1 in December and 3-9-0-1 in the month of January. Manchester was 9-3-0-1 in February and has a record of 5-2-0-0 in March.

Center Marty Murray's (12-34=46) leads the Monarchs with 34 assists and 46 points.

Right wing Trevor Lewis (15-24=39) ranks second in overall scoring and third in goal scoring on the team. His 24 assists are also ranked third on the Monarchs.

Lewis also leads the Monarchs with three shorthanded goals this season.

Reigning AHL Rookie of the Year right wing Teddy Purcell's (16-22=38) eight game scoring streak (7-9=16), the longest scoring streak by a Monarchs player this season, came to an end when he was held off the scoreboard in the 5-2 loss to Providence on Friday, February 20. The longest scoring streak in Monarchs history is center Michael Cammalleri with 25 points (14-11=25) in 14 games from October 29, 2004 - November 27, 2004.

Purcell is the team's leading goal scorer with 16 tallies on the season and he ranks third in points with 38.

Purcell's four-points (2-2=4) on Saturday, February 14 made him the 20th player to tally four points in one game. The franchise record for the most points in a game is five points (0-5=5) by center Jared Aulin on December 21, 2002.

The second-year right wing was recalled to the Kings on February 23. In 27 games with Los Angeles this season, Purcell has 13 points (3-10=13) and four penalty minutes.

Center Justin Azevedo (10-19=29) picked up four points (1-3=4) in the Monarchs 7-2 win over Lowell on Saturday, February 21 to become the 21st player in Monarchs history to score four points in a game.

Azevedo has been plagued by injuries this season but when he has been in the lineup, he's averaged just shy of a point per game. He ranks seventh on the Monarchs squad in points.

The rookie center holds a five-game assist streak (0-6=6) recorded from January 21 - 31, 2009, the longest assist streak for a Monarchs player this season.

Center Gabe Gauthier (9-27=36) is tied for fourth place on the Monarchs roster with left wing Matt Moulson (15-21=36). Gauthier's 27 assists rank second on the Monarchs squad.

Gauthier is also ranked fourth on the Monarchs all-time assists list with 92 helpers over three seasons. He is also ranked 10th in goals scored with 46 tallies and is in seventh place with 138 points.

Moulson recorded his second career hat trick, the Monarchs first of the season, in Manchester's 7-2 win over Lowell on Saturday, February 21. Moulson's first career hat trick came against Albany in the Monarchs 5-1 win on March 30, 2007. Manchester has 17 hat tricks in the record books during the regular season and one in the playoffs since the franchise began in the 2001-02 season

Moulson took over third place in goals scored from right wing Pavel Rosa with 68 tallies over three seasons. He is also ranked seventh in assists with 81 and tied with center Yanick Lehoux for fifth place all time with 149 points.

Right wing Scott Parse (14-21=35) ranks sixth in scoring and shares the team lead with defenseman Joe Piskula (0-8=8) with a plus/minus rating of plus-8.

Center Marc-Andre Cliche picked up the Monarchs first Gordie Howe hat trick of the season in the Monarchs 5-1 win over the Falcons on Wednesday, March 4. Cliche picked up two goals, an assist and participated in a fight.

Defenseman Tom Preissing has been assigned to the Monarchs after clearing waivers in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The veteran blueliner has seven points (3-4=7) and six penalty minutes in 22 games with the Kings this season. He has 131 points (31-100=131) and 78 penalty minutes in 322 career NHL regular season games with the Kings, Ottawa and San Jose. He made his Monarchs debut on Saturday, March 7.

Center Brian Boyle's four-game point streak with two goals and two assists came to an end when he was held off the scoreboard in Friday's 3-1 loss to the Devils.

Netminder Jonathan Bernier is 19-19-3 with a 2.44 goals-against-average and a .911 save-percentage in 43 games with the Monarchs this season.

Bernier's six-game winning streak after stopping 152-of-159 shots in 365 minutes and 31 seconds of playing time to set a new season high winning streak came to an end when the Monarchs fell to the Devils on Friday night. The longest winning streak by a goaltender this season prior to Bernier's six-game streak was when goaltender Daniel Taylor won five straight games from February 4-16. Taylor's five-game winning-streak came to an end on Friday, February 20 when he let in the season's three fastest goals, 58 seconds apart, in the first period against Providence. The fastest three goals scored in a game in the Monarchs franchise history were scored 57 seconds apart when the team was in Lowell on March 19, 2006.

MONARCHS TRANSACTIONS

3-6-09: The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) recalled right wing Kevin Westgarth from the Manchester Monarchs (AHL).

3-4-09: The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) assigned defenseman Tom Preissing to the Manchester Monarchs (AHL).

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