Monarchs defeat Wolf Pack
December 4, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Connecticut Whale News Release
Manchester, NH, December 4, 2009 - The Manchester Monarchs torched the Hartford Wolf Pack for five first-period goals Friday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena, en route to a 7-1 American Hockey League victory.
Manchester tough-guy Kevin Westgarth led the offensive charge with a pair of goals, and defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov had a goal and two assists. Gabe Gauthier also added three assists.
The five goals-against in the first frame tied a Wolf Pack franchise record for most goals-against in a single period.
Geoff Walker started the onslaught at the 3:30 mark, scoring from just below the right faceoff dot off of a faceoff win by Gauthier. Voynov made it 2-0 at 7:25 on the power play, as he jammed the puck into the goal crease and it went between Steve Valiquette's skates and into the goal. Valiquette was making his first AHL appearance since February of 2007, after being assigned to the Wolf Pack by the parent New York Rangers on Thursday.
Westgarth chased Valiquette from the game at 9:21 with his second goal of the season, a shot from high in the slot that hit a Wolf Pack defender and deflected past Valiquette's glove.
Juraj Mikus greeted relief goaltender Matt Zaba with a fourth Manchester goal at 12:19, snapping a shot off left wing into the top of the net on Zaba's stick side. Marc-Andre Cliche then completed the first-period burst with a nearly-identical goal 2:19 later at 14:38, while the Monarchs were shorthanded.
Valiquette returned to the Wolf Pack net for the start of the second period, after Zaba had allowed two goals on four shots, and it took Manchester only 1:01 to make it a 6-0 margin. With the Monarchs on the power play, defenseman Alec Martinez joined the attack and buried Corey Elkins pass from the right-wing side of the crease.
Derek Couture finally got Hartford on the scoreboard at the 9:04 mark, with his second goal in 15 games with the Wolf Pack. Ryan Garlock made a nifty pass between his legs back to Couture, who banged a shot from the slot off the pads of Manchester goaltender Jonathan Bernier and into the net.
The Wolf Pack could never get any closer, though, and Westgarth completed the scoring with Manchester's third power-play goal of the game with 1:32 remaining in the third. Walker, covering the left point, snapped his stick in half taking a shot, and Westgarth managed to deflect it past Valiquette.
The loss dropped the Wolf Pack to 13-9-1-2 for 29 points and into a third-place tie with Worcester in the Atlantic Division.
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