Monarchs Cry Wolf In Shootout Loss
November 9, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release
MANCHESTER, NH - Left wing Matt Moulson scored his first two goals of the season but the Manchester Monarchs fell to the reigning Calder Cup champion Chicago Wolves with a 3-2 shootout loss in front of 5,008 fans at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Sunday evening.
Manchester (2-5-0-3) is ranked seventh in the Atlantic Division with seven points. Chicago (9-2-1-1) is in first place in the west Division with 20 points.
The teams were still at a deadlock after overtime and went to a shootout. The Wolves collected two tallies in the shootout and Chicago goaltender Robert Gherson blanked the Monarchs. Right wing Junior Lessard scored the first after roofing a shot over Quick's glove. Center Riley Holzapfel ripped a snap shot off the post and into the net for the Chicago victory.
Moulson got the Monarchs off to an early lead by tallying twice before the halfway point of the opening series. At the 4:16 mark Moulson scored from a near impossible angle to notch his first goal of the season. Center Gabe Gauthier and right wing John Zeiler got the assists on the first goal of the game. It was Zeiler's first point since joining the team on November 3. Tonight's assist for Gauthier ended a four game scoring drought.
Three minutes later, Moulson tallied his second goal of the game when he ricocheted the puck off of Gherson from the end boards. Center Michel Leveille and Gauthier picked up the assists on the play at 7:42 of the first period to give the Monarchs the 2-0 lead.
In the second period, Monarchs goaltender Jonathan Quick prevented the Wolves from getting on the board with a post-to-post save. At the 12-minute mark, defenseman Grant Lewis was fed the puck from across the hash marks. With an empty net in sight, he shot the puck but was unable to put the rubber in the back of the net as Quick sprawled across the crease to make the save.
The Wolves pulled it within one at the 6:13 mark in the third period when Lessard notched his fourth goal of the season. Center Matt Anderson passed the puck to Holzapfel giving him a bit of an edge on Manchester's defense. Holzapfel fired a quick shot from the right face-off dot. The shot was saved by Quick but the rebound bounced onto Lessard's stick and he slid it past the netminder for the goal.
With under a minute to go in regulation and an empty net, the Wolves got the equalizer that sent the game in to overtime. At the 19:28 of the final frame, right winger Joe Motzko took a shot from the blueline through traffic toward the net. The puck got kicked off of a Monarchs defenseman and over to left winger Brett Sterling who was able to beat Quick for the late tally.
The Monarchs host the Norfolk Admirals on Friday, November 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the Verizon Wireless Arena. Catch all of the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail on the Monarchs Radio Network WGAM-AM 1250 and at www.manchestermonarchs.com. Watch the games live on AHL Live for just $6 per game. Log onto www.manchestermonarchs.com and click on the link to AHL Live five minutes prior to each Monarchs game to watch the game live.
American Hockey League Stories from November 9, 2008
- Korpikoski heads to New York - Connecticut Whale
- Rampage Storm Back, Fall Short 4-2 - San Antonio Rampage
- Four Goals In Under Five Minutes Brings Come-From-Behind Win For Monsters - Cleveland Monsters
- Flames Wrap Up Texas Trip With Win - Abbotsford Heat
- Bulldogs Downed 6-4 by Monsters Comeback - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Monarchs Cry Wolf In Shootout Loss - Manchester Monarchs
- Netminder Munroe Makes 46 Saves In 2-0 Victory - Adirondack Phantoms
- Sound Tigers Gain Sole Possession of First Place with Win Over Bears - Bridgeport Islanders
- Crunch Fly Back to Shoot Down Aeros - Syracuse Crunch
- P-Bruins Fall To Phantoms 2-0 - Providence Bruins
- Aeros Downed by Crunch 2-1 - Houston Aeros
- Forward Chris Lawrence Reassigned to Augusta - Norfolk Admirals
- Columbus Assigns Left Wing Alexandre Picard - Syracuse Crunch
- Houston Aeros visit Syracuse Crunch in matinee - Houston Aeros
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.
