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Manchester Monarchs

Lock Monsters Make It Four Straight Over Monarchs

January 26, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


LOWELL, MA – The Lowell Lock Monsters made it four straight wins over the Manchester Monarchs with a 5-2 win before 3,127 fans at the Tsongas Arena on Wednesday night.

The win was the eighth in nine games overall for the Lock Monsters (8-0-0-1), who moved past the Worcester IceCats into sole possession of third place in the American Hockey LeagueÂ’s Atlantic Division with a record of 25-11-1-3 and 54 points.

The Monarchs, who saw their record drop to 31-9-3-1 on the season with the loss, remained in first place in the division with 66 points, one point ahead of the Hartford Wolf Pack (31-11-1-2, 65 points), which beat the Norfolk Admirals, 1-0, n a shootout on Wednesday night.

Lowell left wing Craig MacDonald broke a scoreless tie with his seventh goal, scored on a redirection of a blue line wrist shot from right wing Carsen Germyn at 2:47 of the second period. Left wing Gordie Dwyer also collected an assist on the goal.

The Monarchs tied the game in a similar manner just 2:08 later with the third goal of the season for defenseman Denis Grebeshkov. Left wings Chris Schmidt and Dustin Brown shared assists on the power play goal that fluttered by an unsuspecting Cam Ward (29 shots, 27 saves) after GrebeshkovÂ’s slap shot from the point tipped off a Lowell defender.

The power play goal halted a streak of 25 straight penalty kills for the Lock Monsters in head-to-head action with the Monarchs this season.

The Lock Monsters regained the lead with their own power play goal, scored with Lowell holding a 5-on-3 man-advantage later in the period. Center Mike Zigomanis took a cross-ice feed from left wing Ryan Bayda and stuffed the puck into the Manchester net at 11:39. Center Eric Staal also recorded an assist on ZigomanisÂ’ 16th goal of the season.

The Lock Monsters opened a two-goal lead when defenseman Danny Richmond wired a shot by goaltender Mathieu Garon (43 shots, 39 saves) at the 19-minute mark of the period. Germyn assisted on RichmondÂ’s third goal of the season.

Left wing Colin Forbes, the AHLÂ’s plus/minus leader (plus-30), made it a 4-1 contest when he flipped the puck over the glove of Garon from the left side of the crease just 51 seconds into the third period. Right wing Chuck Kobasew and Staal assisted on the ForbesÂ’ 20th goal of the season.

The Monarchs pulled one goal closer with the second goal of the game for Grebeshkov, scored on a rebound at 3:21 of the period. Right wing Brad Smyth and center Michael Cammalleri shared assists on the goal, with Ward blocking SmythÂ’ s drive from the slot before surrendering the goal.

Running out of time, the Monarchs pulled Garon in favor of an extra attacker with 2:14 remaining in regulation play, but a neutral zone steal by right wing Chad Larose followed by a shot into an empty net effectively ended any comeback attempt at 18:08 of the period.

Ward (12-7-2) earned the win, his 12th of the season. Garon, took the loss, his first in five games (4-0-1). His record dropped to 21-8-1 on the season.

The Monarchs are 2-4-0-0 in six games with the Lock Monsters this season.

The Monarchs are next scheduled to meet the Portland Pirates on Friday, Januar y 28 at 7:35 p.m. at the Verizon Wireless Arena. The Monarchs are also slated to host the Lock Monsters on Sunday, January 30 at 4:05 p.m. at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

Ticket Availability: 50 seats (singles) in the Gold level and 700 seats in the Silver level remain for the Monarchs Friday night game against the Pirates.

50 seats (singles) in the Gold level and 300 seats in the Silver level remain for the Monarchs Sunday night game against the Lock Monsters.

Fans in need of Monarchs tickets may purchase them in person at the Verizon Wireless Arena box office, at any TicketMaster location, by phone at (603) 868-7300 or on-line at www.ticketmaster.com. The box office opens at 10:00 a.m.

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.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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