Down But Never Out; Monarchs Win by a Field Goal
February 2, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release
LEWISTON, ME - The Manchester Monarchs scored six unanswered goals to come from behind and beat the Portland Pirates, 7-4, in a VIP Cup match-up at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Saturday afternoon.
Manchester (30-13-2-5) leads the Atlantic Division with 67 points. Portland (16-19-2-7) is ranked fifth in the Atlantic Division with 41 points.
"What started out as a romp in Portland's favor turned into a strong effort and a great comeback win for our Monarchs," said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris. "It seems fitting on Super Bowl Sunday that we were able to enjoy the bus ride home. The positive vibes from the win will help us moving forward. We buckled down to complete the comeback. As the game progressed, we were able to sway the momentum with lots of hard work."
A minute and 44 seconds after defenseman Colin Miller tied the game, right wing Zach O'Brien gave the Monarchs their first lead of the contest. Left wing Andy Andreoff sent the puck from the left wing wall to the net. Center Nick Shore swiped at the puck from inside the crease but it popped free to O'Brien who was on the right doorstep. O'Brien lifted the puck into the open net as goaltender Louis Domingue was down on the ice trying to get back into position.
Right wing Chris Brown started the scoring off with his ninth goal of the season at 1:25 of the opening stanza. Off the face-off, center Andy Miele passed the puck over Brown in the slot. Brown fired a slap shot that beat Monarchs netminder Mathias Niederberger for the early 1-0 lead in favor of the Pirates. Right wing Tobias Rieder assisted on the opening goal.
Left wing Brandon McMillan doubled Portland's lead at 14:19 of the first period. Right wing Phil Lane sent the puck behind the Monarchs cage for left wing Darian Dziurzynski to pick up. Dziurzynski backhanded the puck to McMillan on the left doorstep of the net who snuck a quick shot past Niederberger. McMillan's seventh goal of the season gave Portland a 2-0 lead.
Right wing Sean Backman cut the Pirates lead in half with his sixth goal of the season at 15:28 of the opening frame. Center Jordan Weal picked up the loose puck in the Monarchs zone and found Backman along the right wing wall in neutral territory. Backman carried the puck down the right wing and snapped a wrist shot into the top of the net to bring the score to 2-1. Defenseman Chris Huxley assisted on the Monarchs first goal of the game.
Miele gave the Pirates their two-goal lead back with a power play goal at 18:48 of the first period. Cycling the puck, defenseman Daine Todd sent a pass from the right point to defenseman Brandon Gormley at the center point. Gormley fed the puck over to Miele who was inside the left point. Miele wristed the puck, low to the ice and through traffic, that beat Niederberger for his 19th tally of the season.
Monarchs goaltender J.F. Berube replaced Niederberger between the pipes for the start of the second period.
Rieder gave the Pirates their second power play goal of the game with his 14th tally of the season at the two-minute mark of the middle stanza. Todd dropped the puck back to Miele in the right face-off circle. Miele found Rieder on the left doorstep for the tap in goal and 4-1 advantage.
The Monarchs began their comeback with a power play goal at 10:55 of the second period as left wing Tanner Pearson collected his team-leading 16th goal of the season. Left wing Nick Deslauriers cycled the puck from the left point to Weal at the right point. Weal found Pearson in the right face-off circle. Pearson wristed at shot into the top right corner of the net, beating Domingue and bringing the score to 4-2.
Forward Ian O'Connor, a New Hampshire native, scored his first goal of the season to bring the Monarchs to within one goal. As players tried to get their stick on the puck in the left face-off circle, forward Hunter Bishop staked his claim and spun around with the puck. Bishop fired a shot on net that Domingue made a stick save on. O'Connor was at the top of the crease to tap in the rebound.
The Monarchs tied the game up at 4-4 with Miller's fourth goal of the season. Backman skated down the left wing with the puck while Miller streaked down the right wing. Backman sent the puck over to Miller for a one-timer from the right face-off circle that beat Domingue. Right wing Brian O'Neill assisted on the game-tying goal.
Bishop added an insurance tally at 5:48 of the third period, just 19 seconds after O'Brien's go-ahead goal. O'Connor was behind the end redline to the left of the net and attempted to pass the puck to right wing Scott Sabourin at the bottom, inside corner of the left face-off circle. Sabourin fanned on the pass but Bishop was behind him to grab the puck and wrist it into the top right corner of the net behind Domingue.
Netminder Mark Visentin replaced Domingue between the pipes for Portland following Bishop's goal.
O'Brien tallied his second goal of the game at 12:01 of the final frame. Shore sprung O'Brien on a partial breakaway in the neutral zone. The right wing skated into the Pirates zone with one defenseman back. O'Brien's speed took him down the slot and past the lone defender before he flipped a backhand shot past Visentin for his sixth goal of the season.
Berube (19-13-2) earned his 19th win of the season stopping 17-of-18 shots in relief duty. Niederberger (0-0-1) stopped 7-of-10 shots he faced through 20 minutes of play. Domingue (6-5-2) took his fifth loss of the season, stopping 27 of the 33 shots he faced in the game. Visentin (10-14-4) saved seven of the eight shots he faced in relief duty.
Manchester was 1-for-4 on the power play. Portland went 2-for-3 with the man advantage.
Notables: Manchester leads Portland with a 5-2-0-0 record in the VIP Cup series this season; the two teams will play a total of 12 games...The Monarchs seven goals in the game set a season-high record for goals in a game; the previous record was six goals...Manchester's four tallies in the third period tie a season-high for goals scored in a period this season...Right wing Zach O'Brien and forward Hunter Bishop's goals that were 19 seconds apart are the fastest two goals scored this season...Defenseman Vincent LoVerde extended his league-leading plus/minus rating to plus-32.
The Monarchs return to action with their fourth annual Pink In The Rink game when they host the Providence Bruins at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 8. The players will be wearing pink jerseys and skating on pink ice! There will be both a silent and live auction for the pink jerseys and proceeds from the event will benefit Catholic Medical Center's Breast Care Center. Catch all of the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail on Monarchs Radio Network WGIR AM 610, WGIRAM.com, and at manchestermonarchs.com presented by Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.
American Hockey League Stories from February 2, 2014
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- Stars Fall to Barons 7-4 - Texas Stars
- Pirates Fall to Monarchs 7-4 - Portland Pirates
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