
It's Miller Time
March 28, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release
MANCHESTER, NH - Right wing Brian O'Neill tallied twice and defenseman Colin Miller picked up three assists as the Manchester Monarchs clinched a playoff berth in the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs with a 5-1 victory over the Worcester Sharks at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday evening.
Manchester (43-17-2-6) leads the Atlantic Division with 94 points. Worcester (32-30-3-1) is ranked fourth in the Atlantic Division with 68 points.
"It's nice when you can have a good start like that," said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris. "I thought we were quick with the pucks and really made the most of our chances. Second period, not so much; third period, we were back to playing hard again. That was good to see. We played with a lot of conviction. We took advantage of a team that needed to play some hockey earlier this week. We take them when we can get them especially when you're coming down the stretch. You want to start to build toward putting complete games together."
Forward Hunter Bishop beat goaltender Harri Sateri on the blocker side to put the Monarchs up 2-0 at 9:18 of the opening frame. In the defensive zone, Miller fired a two-line pass up the right wing boards. Fresh out of the penalty box, O'Neill corralled the puck and took it into the offensive zone. With a Sharks defender closing in, O'Neill sauced a pass to a crashing Bishop who wristed home a shot from the slot.
Right wing James Livingston opened the scoring with his seventh goal of the season at 1:21 of the first period. Miller sent a pass along the blueline to defenseman Jeff Schultz at the left point. Schultz fired a slap shot toward the net that Livingston, positioned in the slot, was able to get a piece and deflected it past goaltender Sateri's left pad.
Right wing Steve Qualier tipped home his third goal of the season at 14:55 of the first stanza to give the Monarchs a 3-0 advantage. Forward Scott Sabourin was knocked off the puck while skating through the left face-off circle. Sabourin regained control of the biscuit and turned to flip the puck toward the net from the high slot. Quailer was set up in the slot and was able to get a piece of the shot to beat Sateri on his right side. Miller was credited with his third assist on the night.
O'Neill capitalized on the power play to put the Monarchs up 4-0 at 18:46 of the first period. Defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk carried the puck into the zone, deking a defender on the way. Bodnarchuk's stick was checked from behind leaving a loose puck for center Jordan Weal to corral. Weal shot the puck off of Sateri's pads and it trickled to the right side of the crease for quick rebound goal for O'Neill.
Defenseman Dylan DeMelo put the Sharks on the board at 3:36 of the third period. Right wing Adam Schmidt picked up the rubber along the right wing boards on a pass from center Travis Oleksuk. Schmidt backhanded a pass to the slot where a rushing DeMelo rocketed one at Monarchs netminder J.F. Berube. The puck popped up in the air and landed behind Berube as it trickled into the net.
O'Neill knocked home his second power play goal of the night at 18:46 of the final frame to bump the Monarchs lead back to four. Weal started the rush by sending a pass to center Linden Vey along the boards near the right circle. Vey set up O'Neill for the one-timer that went wide of Sateri's glove. O'Neill followed his shot in between the right crease and right circle where the puck rebounded back to him for the goal. Monarchs went up 5-1 with their second power play goal of the night.
Berube (26-15-2) collected his 26th win in victory, stopping 27-of-28 shots he faced. Sateri (17-22-1) took his 22nd loss of the season with 21 saves on 26 shots.
Manchester was 2-for-5 on the power play. Worcester went 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
American Hockey League Stories from March 28, 2014
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