In-Ad-Missable
May 2, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release
NORFOLK, VA - The Norfolk Admirals ended the Manchester Monarchs playoff hopes with a 3-2 victory in Game 4 of the 2014 Calder Cup Eastern Conference Quarterfinals to win the series, 3-1, at the Norfolk Scope Arena on Friday night.
Norfolk beat Manchester, 3-1, in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Series A.
"Looking at the big picture, it was an excellent regular season," said Monarchs head coach Mark Morris. "We found ways to beat the odds and still have success adapting to the ever changing scenarios we dealt with throughout the regular season. New faces and makeshift line-ups are common place (in the minors), so to finish first in the East and win the (Atlantic) Division is something the team can be awfully proud of. The guys deserve a ton of credit.
"The playoffs, however, ended far too soon. We lost some key guys due to injury and recalls who were important pieces of the puzzle for us. This series was disappointing in that we had lots of great chances to win this, but the sense of urgency and our lack of awareness at times did us in. We also faced the top goalie in the AHL. (John) Gibson was stellar and lucky, too. Tonight, we rang the crossbar twice, and last game, we had two goals disallowed. He was good and lucky; a great combination. The Norfolk team played hard and they capitalized when we had our breakdowns.
"Our youthfulness and inexperience combined with our inability to execute and defend at crucial moments cost us an extended postseason. I'm hopeful the guys can use this experience to understand how important it is to make the most of opportunities when they present themselves later on in their careers. It was a good bunch to work with, top-to-bottom. It'll be fun to see these guys as they mature and move on with their careers."
Center Maxime Sauve scored his second goal of the playoffs to give the Admirals a 3-2 lead at 10:49 of the third period. Center Chris Wagner carried the puck through the right face-off circle and backhanded a shot toward goaltender J.F. Berube. The puck bounced through traffic as Sauve got his stick on it and chipped it over Berube for the go-ahead goal.
Admirals struck early as left wing Nic Kerdiles redirected in his first goal of the postseason at 3:25 of the opening frame. Center Rickard Rakell fed the puck to defenseman Sami Vatanen at the left point of the Monarchs zone. Vatanen fired a slap shot that Kerdiles got his stick on and tipped the puck past Berube for the early 1-0 advantage.
Left wing Andy Andreoff tied the game at 1-1 with a power play tally at 15:56 of the middle period. Center Jordan Weal won the face-off in the left circle of the Admirals zone. Weal drew the puck back to Andreoff in the slot for a one-timer that beat Norfolk goaltender John Gibson on his glove side for his first goal of the playoffs.
The Admirals regained their lead with Wagner's first goal of the postseason. Defenseman Nolan Yonkman blasted a slap shot from the right point that Berube made the save, but the rebound popped free. Wagner came streaking through the slot to jam the puck into the net at 2:12 of the third period.
Defenseman Andrew Campbell tied the game at 2-2 at 4:29 of the final frame. Skating four-on-four, center Linden Vey fed the puck to Weal along the left wing. Weal carried the puck into the left face-off circle and found Campbell wide open on the right doorstep for the one-timer into the open net for his first tally of the playoffs.
Berube (1-3) took his third loss of the playoffs, stopping 19-of-22 shots. Gibson (3-1) earned his third victory of the playoffs, making 17 saves on 19 shots he faced in the game.
Manchester was 1-for-5 on the power play. Norfolk went 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
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