Monarchs Harnessed By Falcons
December 6, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release
SPRINGFIELD, MA - The Manchester Monarchs were not able to overcome a 3-0 deficit to the Springfield Flacons in a 3-2 loss in front of 3,715 fans at the MassMutual Center on Saturday night.
Manchester (10-9-0-3, 23 points) is tied for sixth place in the Atlantic Division. Springfield (11-9-2-1, 25 points) is tied for third place in the Atlantic Division.
"Early on in the game, we weren't as sharp as we needed to be overcoming a three goal deficit," said Head Coach Mark Morris. "We did our best to close the gap but we ran out of time."
Exactly three minutes after their second goal, the Falcons were able to score their third and decisive goal of the night. With Monarchs Captain, center Marty Murray, in the box for a bench minor, left wing Viatcheslav Trukhno tallied his third goal of the season. Defenseman Mathieu Roy skated behind the net and found an anxious Trukhno in the slot who put the rubber biscuit into the back of the basket. The assist was Roy's second on the night and third of the year.
The Falcons started the scoring toward the end of the first period at 18:31. Left wing Bryan Lerg skated into the Monarchs zone and ripped a shot from the left circle. Monarchs' netminder Jonathan Bernier kicked the shot to his left and directly to center Ryan Potulny who gathered the puck. Potulny wristed a shot at Bernier that bounced over his left pad and into the net.
Potulny continued his scoring 21 seconds into the second period with a 4-on-4 lamp lighter. Roy stationed himself at the point and slapped a shot toward the Monarchs net. Potulny sat in front of the net along with several Monarchs players and was able to tip the shot past Bernier for his 13th tally of the season and second of the night making it three unanswered goals for the Falcons.
Manchester made their first mark on the game in the second period at 6:48. Defenseman Alec Martinez skated into the Falcons zone along the left wing boards and found defenseman Drew Bagnall located at the point. Murray sat to the right of Falcons goaltender Devan Dubynk and took a pass from Bagnall. Murray calmly skated around the netminder and slid the puck into the bottom right corner of the net for his second goal of the season. The assist was Bagnall's first point on the year.
Tic-tac-toe passing allowed left wing Vladimir Dravecky to score his second goal of the year. At 6:44 of the third period, right wing Bud Holloway handled the puck in the bottom right corner of the Falcons zone before passing to defenseman Josh Kidd in the right circle. Dravecky was at the bottom of the right circle and accepted a touch pass from Kidd. The winger then made a move on a Falcons' defenseman and snapped a shot passed Dubynk from the slot bringing the score to 3-2.
"Some miscues cost us dearly. This is one we'd like to have back," said Morris.
Bernier (5-4-2) suffered his fourth loss on the season with 23 saves on 26 shots. Dubynk (11-10-1) tallied his 11th victory of the year with 23 saves on 25 shots.
Manchester went 0-for-4 on the power play. Springfield was 1-for-8 with an extra attacker.
The Monarchs make their way to the Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine, on Tuesday, December 9 for a match-up with the Portland Pirates at 7:00 p.m. Catch all of the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail on the Monarchs Radio Network WGAM AM 1250 and at www.manchestermonarchs.com. Watch the games live on AHL Live for just $6 per game. Log onto www.manchestermonarchs.com and click on the link to AHL Live five minutes prior to each Monarchs game to watch the game live.
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from December 6, 2008
- Monsters lose to Chops - Cleveland Monsters
- Houston overcomes two-goal deficit to defeat Syracuse 4-3 Saturday - Houston Aeros
- Rivermen Edge Flames in Shootout - Peoria Rivermen
- 'Dogs Have Their Day, 5-2 - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Crunch Downed by Aeros - Syracuse Crunch
- Bochenski and Kearns each score twice to lead Norfolk over the Sound Tigers - Bridgeport Islanders
- Wolves skated by sluggish IceHogs 6-1 - Rockford IceHogs
- Phantoms win over Binghamton - Adirondack Phantoms
- Taffe, Daoust record four points apiece; Pens drop Rats, 7-3 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Flames fall in Shootout - Abbotsford Heat
- Falcons Beat Monarchs - Win Back-To-Back Games On Home Ice - Springfield Falcons
- Chops unbeaten streak now at seven with thrilling OT win over Monsters - Iowa Chops
- Monarchs Harnessed By Falcons - Manchester Monarchs
- Devils Done In By Pirates, 5-2 - Albany Devils
- Bears too powerful for Pack - Connecticut Whale
- Potter heads up to New York - Connecticut Whale
- Bulldogs Snap Losing Streak With 5-2 Win - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Admirals Double Up Sound Tigers - Norfolk Admirals
- Penguins Blast Albany In High-Scoring Affair - Albany River Rats
- Pirates Sail Past Lowell, 5-2 - Portland Pirates
- Janis Sprukts Recalled from Rochester - Rochester Americans
- Worcester Sharks Recall Center Matt Fornataro And Defenseman Michael Wilson From Phoenix - Worcester Sharks
- Minnesota Wild recalls Krys Kolanos from Houston Aeros - Houston Aeros
- Falcons Set To Host Monarchs Tonight - Springfield Falcons
- Aeros host Crunch tonight, fleece blankets to first 3,000 fans - Houston Aeros
- Johnson Reassigned To Wilkes-Barre - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Wolf Pack Sign Forward Matt Stefanishion to PTO - Connecticut Whale
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
