Kings Starts Fireworks Early
Published on December 31, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release
MANCHESTER, NH - The Manchester Monarchs finished 2011 with a 2-1 win over the Providence Bruins at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday night.
Going into the game Manchester (21-12-0-2) is in first place the Atlantic Division with 44 points. Providence is fifth in the division (14-18-1-2) with 31 points.
"Tonight was a solid team effort," said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris. "The early goals paved the way for our team to build on the success we've enjoyed for the past few weeks. Steady, reliable play from Jeff Zatkoff and an excellent penalty killing job helped us a great deal against Providence. Justin Johnson and Chris Cloud also made contributions standing up for their teammates. This stretch has helped our youngsters to gain valuable experience with additional ice time due to the rash of injuries we've encountered. We've seen growth and improvement. It's nice to ring in 2012 with a solid win. Happy New Year!"
The Monarchs took the lead for good when left wing Dwight King put in a backhander at 18:04 of the first period. Defenseman Thomas Hickey passed the puck down to defenseman Patrick Mullen at the bottom of the left wing circle. Mullen wristed a shot on goal that ricocheted off of center Marc-Andre Cliche and trickled to King in front of the net. With Bruins goaltender Anton Khudobin down on the ice, King quickly threw a backhand shot that found the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season.
The Monarchs struck first with a goal by Cliche at 11:23 of the opening period. Mullen passed the puck from the right point to the left point where Hickey fired a shot that was blocked by the Bruins defense. Cliche corralled the loose puck in between the face-off circles and took a quick wrist shot through traffic for his team-leading 11th goal of the season.
Providence scored their lone goal of the game at 8:24 of the third period. With right wing Justin Johnson in the penalty box for goaltender interference, defenseman Colby Cohen lit the lamp with his first goal of the season. Center Josh Hennessey sent a pass from behind the net to defenseman Matt Bartkowski at the left point. Bartkowski crossed defensive positions with Cohen and passed the puck to him at the left point. Cohen launched a slap shot that fought through traffic and found the back of the net.
Monarchs netminder Jeff Zatkoff (10-4-1) earned his 10th victory of the season stopping 25-of-26 shots. Khudobin (11-13-2) took his 13th loss of the season making 27 saves on 29 shots.
Manchester went 0-for-1 on the power play. Providence was 1-for-3 with the man advantage.
American Hockey League Stories from December 31, 2011
- Peoria tops Rockford, 3-2 in a penalty filled affair - Peoria Rivermen
- Rampage End 2011 with 4-3 Victory Over Barons - San Antonio Rampage
- Kings Starts Fireworks Early - Manchester Monarchs
- McCollum Leads Griffins to Big NYE Win - Grand Rapids Griffins
- New Year's Eve Overtime Win - Adirondack Phantoms
- Peoria Outlasts Rockford 3-2 - Rockford IceHogs
- Devils Fall in OT at Adirondack - Albany Devils
- Admirals Battle Back to Earn Point in Hershey - Norfolk Admirals
- Bears Shoot out of 2011 with 3-2 Win Over Norfolk - Hershey Bears
- B-Sens Fizzle in 2011 Finale, Fall to Crunch 6-2 - Binghamton Senators
- Monsters End 2011 with Come-From-Behind Shootout Win - Cleveland Monsters
- P-Bruins Fall to Monarchs 2-1 - Providence Bruins
- Falcons Fall to Whale - Springfield Falcons
- Crunch Close 2011 with 6-2 Win Over Binghamton - Syracuse Crunch
- Ads Fall to Grand Rapids to Close out 2011 - Milwaukee Admirals
- Whale Cloe out 2011 with 5-2 Win - Connecticut Whale
- Sound Tigers Fall 4-2 to Penguins - Bridgeport Islanders
- Second-Period Burst Leads Penguins Past Sound Tigers - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Sharks End 2011 with a Thud, Fall 4-2 in Portland - Worcester Sharks
- IceCaps Release Shayne Wiebe - St. John's IceCaps
- Charlotte Snaps Wolves Home Streak - Chicago Wolves
- Checkers Extend Point Streak to Five Games - Charlotte Checkers
- Bulldogs Earn One Point in 3-2 Shootout Loss - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Oilers Assign Colten Teubert to Oklahoma City - Oklahoma City Barons
- Panthers Send Dadonov to Rampage - San Antonio Rampage
- Adam Cracknell Returns to Rivermen - Peoria Rivermen
- Rangers Return Sean Avery to Whale - Connecticut Whale
- Sabres Recall Defenseman Brennan - Rochester Americans
- Griffins Call on McCollum - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Blue Jackets Recall Defenseman David Savard from AHL's Springfield Falcons - Springfield Falcons
- Bears Sign Forward Matt Pope to Two-Year Contract - Hershey Bears
- Sound Tigers Comeback Falls Short in 3-2 Loss to Admirals - Bridgeport Islanders
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