Brown Power Play Goal Sends Monarchs To 23rd Win
December 26, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release
MANCHESTER, NH â Center Yanick Lehoux and left wing Dustin Brown each collected a goal and goaltender Mathieu Garon stopped 27 shots as the Manchester Monarchs edged the Portland Pirates, 2-1, before 8,269 fans at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Sunday night. The victory was the third in three games for the Monarchs against the Pirates this season. The Monarchs, winners of two straight games overall, lead the American Hockey League's Atlantic Division with a record of 23-4-2-1 and 49 points.
The second place Hartford Wolf Pack (21-7-1-2, 45 points), which edged the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, 3-2, on Sunday night, trails the Monarchs by four points in the division standings.
The sixth place Pirates, losers of three straight contests, dropped to 11-14-3-4 and 29 points on the season. The Pirates have just one goal in their three head-to-head meetings with the Monarchs this season.
The Monarchs extended their home ice unbeaten in regulation streak to a team record 13 games (12-0-1-0) in come-from-behind fashion. The Pirates opened the scoring with a goal from right wing Boyd Gordon at 9:43 of the opening period. Gordon's sixth goal of the season deflected off the right pad of Garon (28 shots, 27 saves) and caromed into the back of the net. Right wing Garret Stroshein and defenseman Michel Periard shared assists on the first goal scored by the Pirates against the Monarchs in 131 minutes and 43 seconds. The streak covered four games and dated back to April 4, 2004.
Lehoux's highlight reel goal tied the game at the 14:14 mark of the period. Lehoux, the AHL's scoring leader with 45 points (20-25=45), floated in from the right circle, deked goaltender Maxime Ouellet (29 shots, 27 saves), and then neatly tucked the puck inside the right post for his 20th goal of the season. Right wing Tom Kostopoulos and defenseman Tim Gleason each assisted on one of the Monarchs prettiest goals of the season.
Brown backhanded the game-winner into the back of the Portland net for a power play goal with just 52 seconds remaining in the middle period. Lehoux, who located Brown alone in front of the Portland net, and defenseman Denis Grebeshkov each collected assists on the goal, the 14th of the season for Brown. Seven of Brown's 14 tallies this season have come on the power play.
Garon needed only six saves in the third period to earn his league-leading 16th win (16-4-1). Ouellet took the loss, his 13th this season (9-13-3). The Monarchs finished 1-2 on the power play. The Pirates were 0-3 with the man-advantage. The Monarchs return to action when they host the Utah Grizzlies on Tuesday, December 28 at 7:05 p.m. at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
Ticket Availability: 50 tickets in the Gold level and 2,200 tickets in the Silver level remain for the Monarchs game against the Grizzlies.
Catch all of the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail on the Monarchs Radio Network (WGIR-AM 610, Manchester; WGIN-AM 930, Rochester; WGIP-AM 1540, Exeter; WTSL-AM 1400, Lebanon) and at www.monarchshockey.com.
American Hockey League Stories from December 26, 2004
- Phantoms lose 5-3 in Wilkes-Barre - Adirondack Phantoms
- Ducks one-up Griffins for a change - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Ducks skate past Griffins, 2-1 - Cincinnati RailRaiders
- Brown Power Play Goal Sends Monarchs To 23rd Win - Manchester Monarchs
- Bears sink Admirals 5-0, Budaj makes 50 saves - Hershey Bears
- Falcons win as 'Cats dodge shutout - Worcester IceCats
- Falcons Defeat IceCats to Post Fourth Straight Win - Springfield Falcons
- Sound Tigers lose 3-2 at home to Hartford - Bridgeport Islanders
- Kip Miller returns to Griffins - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Bergeron leads Canada to rout - Providence Bruins
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