AHL Manchester Monarchs

Falcons Frustrate Monarchs At The Nest, 5-3

April 3, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


SPRINGFIELD, MA – The Springfield Falcons scored three unanswered goals to open the third period, and then held on for a 5-3 win over the Manchester Monarchs at the Springfield Civic Center on Saturday night.

Center Kiel McLeod, center Jason Jaspers and defenseman Jeremiah McCarthy had the third period goals for the seventh place Falcons, who beat the Monarchs for the fourth time in eight meetings this season. The Falcons and the Monarchs are scheduled to meet twice more before the 2003-04 regular season wraps up on April 11.

Despite the loss, the Monarchs (38-25-7-5, 88 points) remain in second place in the Atlantic Division with five games to play. They trail the Hartford Wolf Pack (40-21-12-2, 94 points) by six points in the race for the division title. They also lead the third place Worcester IceCats (34-26-12-3, 83 points) by five points.

With the win, the Falcons (25-39-9-2, 61 points), who will miss the Calder Cup playoffs for the third time in four seasons, gained a measure of revenge against the Monarchs, who blew them out, 8-3, at the Verizon Wireless Arena on March 21.

Left wing Martin Podlesak collected the only first period goal as the Falcons vaulted out to a 1-0 lead. Podlesak jumped on a loose puck in the slot and swept it through the pads of goaltender Adam Hauser at 12:53. Center Chris Ferraro registered the only assist on Podlesak's fifth goal of the season.

McLeod doubled the Falcons lead 7:59 into the middle period with his sixth goal of the season. The 6-foot-6 rookie fought through center Michael Cammalleri's back-check and jammed a rebound by Hauser to make it 2-0. Right wing Peter Ferraro had the only assist on the play.

The Monarchs closed the period with an onslaught of offensive activity and tied the game with goals from right wing Pavel Rosa and center Yanick Lehoux. Rosa netted his team-leading 35th goal of the season from the high slot at 9:55. Defenseman Tim Gleason and forward Leon Hayward shared assists on the goal, Rosa's seventh against the Falcons this season.

Lehoux's sweet backhander through the slot fooled goaltender Jean-Marc Pelletier and tied the game at 18:02. Rookie right wing Petr Kanko and Hayward assisted on Lehoux's 12th goal of the season.

Peter Ferraro and defenseman Joe Callahan set up McLeod's second goal of the game, scored just 1:14 into the third period to give the Falcons back the lead at 3-2. The Falcons added to their lead near the midway point of the period with two more goals in a span of 40 seconds. Jaspers redirected his shot by Hauser at 8:04, and McCarthy completed the Falcons scoring flurry with his sixth goal, scored on the power play from the slot at 8:44. Left wing Frantisek Lukes and defenseman Todd Reirden helped with Jaspers' 16th goal of the season. Jaspers and Peter Ferraro assisted on the McCarthy tally.

Monarchs head coach Bruce Boudreau pulled Hauser and replaced him with goaltender Mathieu Chouinard after the McCarthy score. Minutes later he replaced Chouinard with an extra attacker to give the Monarchs a 6-on-4 power play advantage. The move worked, as defenseman Tomas Zizka pushed right wing Sam Ftorek's crease feed by Pelletier at 17:17 of the period. Lehoux also collected an assist on Zizka's fourth goal of the season.

The Monarchs replaced Chouinard for a second time with just over a minute to play, but they were unable to get anything more past Pelletier (9-23-5), who finished with 34 saves and his third win against the Monarchs this season.

Hauser (20-14-7) stopped 17 shots and took his first loss in 15 outings. He entered Saturday's action with an eight-game winning streak and an unbeaten-in-regulation streak of 14 games (9-0-3-2).

The Monarchs next home game is set for Sunday, April 4 at 4:05 p.m. when they welcome the Portland Pirates to the Verizon Wireless Arena. About 400 seats remain for Sunday's contest. For ticket information, visit the Monarchs on-line at www.monarchshockey.com.

Monarchs Ticket Availability as of April 3

Sun. April 4 vs. Portland: 460 seats remain.



American Hockey League Stories from April 3, 2004


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