AHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Beat Pack; One Win Away From First-Ever Division Title

Published on April 13, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


HARTFORD, CT – Center Michael Cammalleri and left wing Dustin Brown each collected a goal and two assists and goalie Mathieu Garon had 26 saves to lead the Manchester Monarchs past the Hartford Wolf Pack, 5-1, before 3,574 fans at the Hartford Civic Center on Wednesday night.

With the win, their fourth straight and 50th overall, the Monarchs (50-19-4-4, 108 points) moved one step closer to clinching their first-ever Atlantic Division title. They lead the second place Wolf Pack (48-23-3-3, 102 points) by six points with only three games remaining on the 2004-05 regular season schedule. The Monarchs need only one more win or one more Hartford loss to claim the title.

The Monarchs led 2-0 after one period thanks to goals from center David Steckel and left wing Ryan Kinasewich. Steckel collected his 10th goal just 2:43 into the game when his shot deflected off the stick blade of a Hartford defender, dinged the near post and caromed into the Wolf Pack net. Defenseman Jason Holland and left wing Chris Schmidt shared assists on the play.

The Monarchs added to their lead 6:12 later when Kinasewich flipped a no-look pass from center Matt Ryan over the shoulder of Hartford goaltender Jason LaBarbera (19 shots, 16 saves) for his second goal of the season.

Garon (27 shots, 26 saves) recorded seven saves in the period. His best stop came 11:10 into the stanza when he rejected a close range shot from center Dominic Moore with his glove. Hartford was on a power play at the time.

The Monarchs made it a 3-0 game when Brown sent a blistering shot into the Hartford net 3:18 into the middle period. Cammalleri and right wing Brad Smyth (0-2=2) assisted on Brown's 29th goal of the season. With his assist, Cammalleri extended his scoring streak to 10 games.

Brown's goal chased LaBarbera from the game. Goalie Stephen Valiquette replaced him and closed the period with four saves. Hartford enjoyed a power play advantage for nearly six minutes to close the period, but could not slip anything past Garon, who made an outstanding save on a backhander from right wing Ken Gernander with 1:36 remaining on the clock. Garon, who finished with 11 saves in the period, also had a little help when right wing Jeff Hamilton ripped his right circle drive off the near post with 6:50 left.

The Monarchs opened a four-goal lead just 1:09 into the third period when Cammalleri sliced his league-leading 46th goal of the season past Valiquette (11 shots, 9 saves). Smyth and Brown assisted.

Hartford got on the board just 1:06 later when center Jamie Lundmark slipped a loose puck past Garon. Defenseman Bryce Lampman and right wing Josef Balej assisted on his 14th goal of the season.

But the Monarchs went back up by four with a power play goal from right wing Tom Kostopoulos at 8:43. He jabbed a loose puck into the net for his 25th goal of the season with assists going to defenseman Denis Grebeshkov and Cammalleri.

The third period included 190 penalty minutes and a major melee with 4:30 remaining on the clock. The teams combined for 232 penalty minutes in the game.

Garon improved to 31-13-4 on the season with his fourth win in seven decisions against the Wolf Pack. LaBarbera (30-16-2) took the loss, his 16th of the season and first in eight appearances against the Monarchs.

The Monarchs closed their eight-game season series with a record of 4-2-2-0 against the Wolf Pack.

The Monarchs host their final home game of the 2004-05 regular season when they welcome the Lowell Lock Monsters to the Verizon Wireless Arena for a 7:35 p.m. contest on Friday night. After that, they'll close out the regular season with road games on Saturday night against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (7:05 p.m.) and on Sunday night against the Worcester IceCats (4:05 p.m.).

Ticket Availability: Single seats in the Gold and Silver levels of the Verizon Wireless Arena remain for Friday's game against the Lock Monsters.

Monarchs tickets are on sale now and may be purchased at the Verizon Wireless Arena box office. Individual tickets may also be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at (603) 868-7300, or by visiting Ticketmaster on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.

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American Hockey League Stories from April 13, 2005


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