Monarchs Beeched By The Penguins
March 24, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release
WILKES-BARRE, PA â Left wing Tomas Surovy's goal with just 32.4 seconds left in regulation spoiled a Manchester Monarchs third period comeback, as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins edged the Monarchs, 4-3, before a crowd of 8,237 at Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza on Wednesday night. The loss put an end to the Monarchs team-record road unbeaten streak. They entered Wednesday's action on a 6-0-1-0 run over their last seven games away from the Verizon Wireless Arena.
Trailing 3-1 heading into the third period, the Monarchs rallied with a pair of goals from right wing Pavel Rosa. Surovy's goal, his second of the game and 13th of the season, followed a successful Penguins penalty kill with less than a minute remaining in regulation.
Center Kris Beech, who led all scorers with two goals and two assists, set up the game winner when he stole the puck in the Monarchs zone. Goaltender Milan Hnilicka got a piece of Beech's shot a split second later, but he could not handle Surovy's finish on the rebound.
Goaltender Andy Chiodo (17-17-2) earned the win, his second against the Monarchs this season, with 22 saves. Hnilicka (6-8-0) took the loss with 25 saves and dropped to 0-2-0 since returning from the Los Angeles Kings on March 18.
With the loss, the second place Monarchs (36-23-6-5, 83 points) stayed four points behind the Atlantic Division-leading Hartford Wolf Pack (37-20-11-2, 87 points). They also stayed five points up on the third place Worcester IceCats (32-24-11-3, 78 points) and six points up on the fourth place Providence Bruins (32-24-10-3, 77 points). The Monarchs were the only members of the Atlantic Division to play on Wednesday.
With the win, the Penguins (31-27-8-6, 76 points) strengthened their hold on third place in the AHL's East Division. They are nine points back of the Philadelphia Phantoms (39-24-6-1, 85 points) and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (36-21-9-4, 85 points), both of whom are tied for the top spot with 85 points.
The Penguins capitalized on a Monarchs turnover to take the early lead. Beech, making his second appearance after missing 21 games with a broken collarbone, intercepted defenseman Tomas Zizka's outlet pass, raced into the Monarchs zone, and slipped his shot by Hnlilicka just 2:01 into the contest. Beech's 16th goal of the season was unassisted.
The Monarchs tied the game later in the period with center Steve Kelly's third goal in the past two games. With the Monarchs on the power play, Kelly slid into the slot and deflected Zizka's left point blast by Chiodo at 10:12. Defenseman Bryan Muir also assisted on Kelly's 18th of the season. With the goal, his 47th as a Monarch, Kelly moved past former Monarchs left wing Derek Bekar into third place on the Monarchs all-time goals scored list.
The Penguins regained the lead when Beech struck for a power play goal just 49 seconds into the middle period. Surovy and defenseman Rob Scuderi assisted on Beech's second goal of the game, tapped home from the crease after Surovy's shot trickled through the pads of Hnilicka.
The Penguins moved out to a 3-1 lead when Surovy added his second point of the period with his 12th goal, scored at 18:41 with assistance from Beech and rookie right wing Michel Ouellet.
Rosa's team-leading 32nd goal pulled the Monarchs to within a 3-2 score with 15:53 left in the game. Kelly and defenseman Joe Rullier assisted on Rosa's accurate wrister from the slot. With the goal, Rosa became just the second player to reach 60 goals in a Monarchs uniform. Only former left wing Eric Healey (66) has more goals in his Monarchs career than Rosa.
Rosa tied the game just 4:52 later when he stuffed home a loose puck in the crease. Kelly and forward Michael Cammalleri shared assists on Rosa's second goal of the period and 33rd overall this season.
With his two goals, Rosa increased his lead in the AHL scoring race to three points (33-43=76) over center Eric Perrin of the Hershey Bears (21-52=73).
The Monarchs return to action when they meet the Norfolk Admirals at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 26 at the Scope Arena. The Monarchs next home game is slated for 7:35 p.m. on Friday, April 2 versus the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Only single seats remain for Friday's game. For ticket information, visit the Monarchs on-line at www.monarchshockey.com.
Monarchs Ticket Availability as March 24
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