AHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Brush Up Pirates

Published on February 19, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


MANCHESTER, NH - Left wing Bud Holloway recorded a goal and two assists as the Manchester Monarchs defeated the Portland Pirates by a 5-4 score at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday night.

Manchester (34-17-2-5, 75 points) holds on to first place in the Atlantic Division with 75 points. Portland (33-16-4-2, 72 points) remains in second place in the Atlantic Division with 72 points.

"When the opponent has a short bench, their better players are playing a lot - it was a test for us," said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris. "The penalties mounted and they were right back in the game. When we extended the lead [in the third period], we got caught napping."

"We did beat a good team and we have to take a lot of positives out of it," said Morris.

Left wing Ray Kaunisto scored his fifth goal of the season at 2:21 of the first period. Center Jordan Nolan, from behind the Pirates cage, connected with center Corey Elkins within the left wing corner. Elkins sent a pass up to Kaunisto, positioned at the bottom of the left face-off circle and wristed one past Portland goaltender David Leggio for the first goal of the game.

Left wing Dwight King scored his 19th goal of the season at 3:54 of the first period. Monarchs defenseman Colten Teubert passed the puck down into the zone from the right point to King, positioned along the right wing half wall. King sent a sideways feed to Holloway who was near the slot. Streaking toward the Portland cage, King wristed a shot inside the right post to put the Monarchs up by two goals early in the first period.

Center Luke Adam scored his 16th goal of the season at 9:03 of the first period to cut the Monarchs lead in half. Defenseman T.J. Brennan sent a feed into the right wing corner from the right point. Adam skated through the right face-off circle with the puck and fired a shot that beat Monarchs goaltender Martin Jones. Defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani collected an assist on Adam's goal.

Adam collected his second goal of the game late in the first period at 14:56. Right wing Mark Parrish initiated the play by dumping the puck into the right wing corner. Skating with the puck, right wing Mark Mancari created a nifty shuffle pass, hooking up with Adam who skated toward the slot. An initial blast was knocked down by Jones, but the ensuing rebound found twine, knotting the game at two goals apiece.

Left wing Jacob Lagace scored his fifth goal of the season at 4:49 of the second period to put the Pirates up 3-2. Left wing Dennis McCauley skated down the slot, 2-on-1, with Lagace flanking him on the right. McCauley dangled around a Monarchs defender at the top of the goal crease and forced the puck to Lagace, who backhanded a shot over the leg of Jones for what was then the go-ahead goal. Center Justin Bowers also assisted on Lagace's second period tally.

Left wing Richard Clune knotted the score at 3-3 at 5:32 of the second period. Teubert fed the puck up the ice to right wing John Zeiler. Clune was streaking into the zone along the left wing boards and received the puck from Zeiler. Clune skated toward the left post and sniped the puck into the top right corner of the goal, beating Leggio for his eighth goal of the season.

Defenseman Andrew Campbell scored his first goal of the season at 14:49 of the second period, putting the Monarchs up 4-3. From the top of the zone, center Justin Azevedo sent a pass behind the net to Holloway. Surveying the scene, Holloway dished the puck toward the left post, where a crashing Campbell forced the puck inside the right post.

Following Campbell's goal, netminder Jhonas Enroth replaced Leggio between the pipes for Portland.

Holloway scored his 19th goal of the season at 15:24 of the second period. Defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov, positioned in the right face-off circle, fed a pass over to Azevedo who was crashing the right post. Azevedo then sent a feed across the crease for Holloway to tap in the puck, beating the sliding Enroth and increasing the Monarchs lead to 5-3.

With the goaltender pulled, Brennan scored his 10th goal of the season at 19:20 of the third period. Within the zone, Mancari fed the puck to the left point where it was gathered by Gragnani. The defenseman connected with his partner Brennan at the right point. Brennan's booming blast from the point skidded across the goal line, bringing Portland back to within one goal.

Jones (20-7-1) won his 20th game of the season, stopping 23-of-27 shots on goal. Leggio (15-4-0) halted 16-of-20 shots on net before yielding to Enroth (18-15-2), who collected the loss while saving 12-of-13 shots on goal.

Manchester was 0-for-4 on the power play. Portland was also 0-for-4 with the man advantage.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 19, 2011


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