Monarchs Fall To Springfield
October 17, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release
SPINGFIELD, MA â Jeff Taffe's league-leading fifth goal of the season pushed the Springfield Falcons past the Manchester Monarchs, 4-3, in front of 2,707 fans at the Springfield Civic Center on Friday night.
The win was the second straight for the Falcons, who improved to 2-1-0-0 on the season. The loss was the third in four games for the Monarchs, who dropped to 1-3-0-0.
Peter Ferraro and Taffe each collected two points late in the opening period as the Falcons opened a 3-0 lead.
Defenseman Jeremiah McCarthy, who five days earlier signed an American Hockey League contract after making the Falcons out of training camp, opened the scoring with a power play goal with 4:07 remaining in the period.
McCarthy scored from the slot seconds after center Yanick Lehoux's hooking penalty. Peter Ferraro and Taffe collected assists on the goal.
George Parros' boarding call with 2:50 remaining in the period put the Monarchs a man down for the third time in the period. The Falcons took advantage when Peter Ferraro scored on the power play 60 seconds after the infraction. Taffe and Chris Ferraro assisted on PeterFerraro's first of the season.
Center Gary Shuchuk, a 12-year veteran and a former Los Angeles King, completed the flurry of Falcons scoring with his first goal, scored just 21 seconds later. Forwards Jason Jaspers and Kiel McLeod assisted on the goal scored with 1:29 remaining on the first period clock.
The Monarchs lifted goaltender Mathieu Chouinard for Matt Underhill, who was signed to a professional tryout agreement earlier in the week, to start the middle period. Underhill, on the Monarchs roster while no. 1 goalie Milan Hnilicka recovers from a groin injury, held the Falcons scoreless in the second 20 minutes, allowing the Monarchs to claw their way back into the game with a pair of goals.
The first goal was scored by center Jerred Smithson just 15 seconds into the period. Smithson netted his second goal of the season with help from both left wing Chris Schmidt and right wing Dan Welch.
The confidence of goaltender Jean-Marc Pelletier seemed to slump following Smithson's marker, and the Monarchs took advantage.
Left wing Ryan Flinn scored to make it a 3-2 game 6:53 into the period. Right wing George Parros and left wing Jeff Giuliano assisted on Flinn's first of the season.
The Monarchs tied the game at 3-3 when right wing Pavel Rosa pounced on a rebound and slid the puck by Pelletier with 12:58 remaining in the third period.
But Taffe stole the Monarchs momentum when he snapped the game-winning goal past the outstretched left skate of Underhill with 12:27 remaining in the game.
The Monarchs pulled Underhill and went with an extra attacker with 1:11 remaining in the contest, but failed to score.
Pelletier evened his record at 1-1-0 with 31 saves. Underhill's record dropped to 0-1-0 despite 12 saves in relief action.
The Monarchs return to action with a game at Portland against the Pirates on Saturday night (7:05 p.m.), before returning home for a 4:05 p.m. game against the Hershey Bears on Sunday afternoon. Only 700 tickets remain for Sunday's game, which thanks to the Bank of New Hampshire, will serve as a tribute to former Boston great Ray Bourque. For Monarchs ticket information, call (603) 626-7825 or check out the Monarchs on-line at www.monarchshockey.com.
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American Hockey League Stories from October 17, 2003
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