Monarchs Hang on for 4-3 Win Over Sound Tigers
Published on February 25, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release
MANCHESTER, N.H. (Feb. 25, 2011) ¬" Justin Azevedo scored twice and added an assist and Martin Jones made critical saves down the stretch as the Manchester Monarchs held on for a 4-3 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester on Friday night. With the win, Manchester improves to 36-18-2-5. The Sound Tigers fall to 21-30-3-4.
After the two sides got off to a relatively slow start, the Sound Tigers and Monarchs combined for three goals in 3:09. Manchester came in on a two-on-two and Bud Holloway fired past Mikko Koskinen for his 20th goal of the year to give the Monarchs a 1-0 lead at 13:39 of the first period. The Sound Tigers answered 1:06 later. After the puck took a strange bounce into the slot of the Monarchs zone, Rhett Rakhshani gathered it and managed to slip a pass to Jeremy Colliton as he fell down. Colliton tipped the puck past Martin Jones for his ninth goal of the season in his first game with the team since Jan. 5 and the score was tied at one. However, Manchester retook the lead on John Zeiler's fourth goal of the season at 16:48 off a feed from Richard Clune, and after one period the Monarchs held a 2-1 lead.
The Sound Tigers evened the score again just 47 seconds into the second period. Justin DiBenedetto led a two-on-one rush and found Rakhshani to his right, who snapped a shot into the bottom right corner of the net for his 11th goal of the year and first since Dec. 11 to tie the score 2-2. Things got a little more physical just over a minute after Rakhshani's goal when Richard Clune hit Sound Tiger defenseman Benn Olson into the boards from behind. Olson took offense as did his defensive partner Chris Frank, and both squared off with Clune and Jordan Nolan. The physical play continued through the period as Jean Bourbeau leveled Thomas Hickey near center ice, but was called for elbowing at 12:58. On the ensuing faceoff, Justin Azevedo fired a shot from the point through a screen to put Manchester in front again by a 3-2 score.
Azevedo would push the Manchester lead to two 1:37 into the third period as the Sound Tigers lost Azevedo in the neutral zone and Brandon Kozun led him in on a breakaway. Azevedo deked and beat Koskinen to his left for his second goal of the lead to give the Monarchs a 4-2 advantage. The Sound Tigers continued to fight and a great individual effort by defenseman Jon Landry cut the deficit to one. Landry collected the puck by his own blue line and skated all the way along the left side towards Jones. Landry held his ground against the Monarchs defenseman, then flipped a shot short-side past Jones for his second goal of the season at 3:11 to make the score 4-3. However, Martin Jones would hold off a furious charge from the Sound Tigers as he made some big saves in the final minutes, and the Monarchs escaped with a 4-3 win.
Martin Jones made 25 saves to earn the win. Mikko Koskinen stopped 29 shots in the loss.
These two teams will face each other tomorrow night in the back end of the home-and-home series at Webster Bank Arena at 7 p.m.
American Hockey League Stories from February 25, 2011
- P-Bruins Shutout Heat 4-0 - Providence Bruins
- IceHogs Battle Past Rivermen 4-2 - Peoria Rivermen
- Griffins Beat Back Monsters, 5-3 - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Falcons Beat Devils 5-2 - Springfield Falcons
- Admirals Shoot Past Checkers 4-3 - Norfolk Admirals
- Aeros Slip By Stars 4-3 In Overtime - Texas Stars
- Taffe's Tallies Help End Rockford's Losing Streak - Rockford IceHogs
- Admirals Bitten By Wolves - Milwaukee Admirals
- Cullen's Four-point Night Lifts Amerks Over Moose 5-3 - Rochester Americans
- Barons Slip Past Rampage 3-2 - San Antonio Rampage
- Sharks fall to Pirates 3-2 in Shootout - Worcester Sharks
- A Picture's Worth a Monarchs W - Manchester Monarchs
- Checkers Erase Three-goal Deficit, Fall In Shootout - Charlotte Checkers
- Bulldogs Power Past Phantoms 4-1 - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Crunch Bumped by Binghamton, 7-4 - Syracuse Crunch
- Wolves Cast Away Admirals, 2-1 - Chicago Wolves
- Phantoms Point Streak Ends at Seven - Adirondack Phantoms
- Pirates Sink Sharks With Shootout Victory - Portland Pirates
- Moose Can't Match Amerks In 5-3 Loss - Manitoba Moose
- Devils Cool Down With Loss At Springfield - Albany Devils
- Monarchs Hang on for 4-3 Win Over Sound Tigers - Bridgeport Islanders
- Predators Recall Geoffrion, Halischuk - Milwaukee Admirals
- Ladies Night, Star Wars Night and Griffins - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Atlanta Assigns Maxwell to Chicago - Chicago Wolves
- Coyotes Recall MacLean from San Antonio - San Antonio Rampage
- Labatt's Celebrity Bartending Series Continues - Syracuse Crunch
- Griffins Reel in Hook for Ticket Staff - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Griffins Welcome Back Mursak - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Falcons Host Annual Floor Hockey Clinic - Springfield Falcons
- Oilers Recall Barons Goaltender Martin Gerber - Oklahoma City Barons
- Gustafsson Recalled by Philadelphia - Adirondack Phantoms
- Lightning Recall Goaltender Mike Smith from Admirals - Norfolk Admirals
- B-Sens Season Tickets Go on Sale Saturday - Binghamton Senators
- AHL Quick Hits - AHL
- Playoff Push Continues - Falcons Host Devils Tonight - Springfield Falcons
- Gameday Preview - Texas at Houston - Texas Stars
- B-Sens Reassign Defenseman Brennan Turner to Gwinnett - Binghamton Senators
- Senators Recall Forwards Corey Locke and Roman Wick from Binghamton - Binghamton Senators
- Goaltender Jaroslav Janus Reassigned to Admirals from ECHL's Florida Everblades - Norfolk Admirals
- Game Day: Amerks Look to Avoid Sweep Tonight Against Moose - Rochester Americans
- Panthers Recall Trio from Amerks; Reassign Ellerby to Rochester - Rochester Americans
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.
