AHL Manchester Monarchs

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Published on October 28, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


Portland, ME - The Manchester Monarchs snapped their five-game losing streak behind three third period goals in a 5-2 victory against the Portland Pirates at the Cumberland County Civic Arena on Friday night.

Manchester (4-6-0-0) sits in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with eight points. The Pirates (3-5-0-1) are in fifth place in the Atlantic Division with seven points.

"The team played hard from the drop of the puck," said Monarch Head Coach Mark Morris. "We built a two goal lead; everything seemed to be going our way. Again, penalties halted our momentum as Portland took advantage of our time in the box. We killed off a five-on-three and then we seemed to get back to work in the third period. It was a total team effort. Everyone played a regular shift so we had good energy for the entire third period. We need that same effort from this point forward. It was a solid performance."

The Monarchs regained their lead at 3:20 of the third period when center Marc-Andre Cliche picked up a loose puck in front of the net and wristed it into the back of the net. Monarchs defenseman Jake Muzzin blasted a slap shot from atop the left wing face-off circle causing a loose puck in front of the net. Monarchs left wing Richard Clune swiped at the puck which then bounced to Cliche. The eventual game-winning goal was Cliche's team-leading fifth tally of the season.

Right wing Linden Vey opened the scoring for the Monarchs at 7:49 of the first period. With the Monarchs on the power play, center Justin Azevedo took the puck off the left wing boards at the bottom of the left face-off circle and drove to the net before dishing it back to a trailing Vey. The right winger wristed a shot high stick side past Pirates goaltender Curtis McElhinney. Left wing Dwight King also recorded an assist on Vey's second goal of the season which gave the Monarchs the early 1-0 lead.

The Monarchs pushed the lead to 2-0 in the first period after executing a 3-on-2 transition opportunity that resulted with King tallying his first goal of the season. Azevedo gained the Pirates zone from the left point and fired a pass across to right wing Robbie Czarnik coming down the right wing boards. Czarnik held the puck wide on the right side before finding King skating to the left post for the tip in. King's strike came at 12:18 of the opening frame.

Portland cut the lead in half when right wing Ryan Duncan wristed a shot past Monarchs goaltender Jeff Zatkoff at 3:18 of the middle stanza. Pirates center Ethan Werek found Duncan streaking down the left wing boards. Duncan took aim from the left face-off circle and picked the far top right corner of the net for his third goal of the season. Duncan's power play strike was also assisted by defenseman Tyler Eckford.

Pirates right wing Ashton Rome knotted up the game at 2-2 at 9:18 of the second period. Center Kyle Chipchura spotted a streaking Rome down the left wing boards. Rome received the pass behind the defense and with a full head of steam wristed a shot short side midway up the net. Defenseman Dean Arsene picked up an assist on Rome's second goal of the season.

The Monarchs added an insurance goal to make the score 4-2 when defenseman Andrew Campbell bulleted a pass to a streaking Clune who finished the play for his third goal of the season. Clune took the puck down the left wing boards and cut across the net sliding a backhand five-hole on McElhinney at 14:20 of the third period. Zatkoff tallied an assist on the final period strike.

Defenseman Jordan Hill finished off the Pirates with an empty net goal at 18:09 of the final period. Hill flipped a high arcing shot from the Monarchs zone. Hill's first tally of the season was unassisted and pushed the score to 5-2.

Zatkoff (1-2-0-0) earned his first victory of the season while stopping 27-of-29 shots. McElhinney (2-4-0-0) took his fourth loss of the season making 21 saves on 25 shots.

Manchester went 1-for-3 on the power play. The Pirates were 1-for-6 with the man advantage.



American Hockey League Stories from October 28, 2011


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