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AHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Keeping the Faith

April 14, 2012 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


MANCHESTER, NH - The Manchester Monarchs earned two big points toward their pursuit for a spot in the 2012 Calder Cup Playoffs by defeating the Hershey Bears, 5-1, on Faith and Family Day at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Manchester (38-32-2-3) is tied for second place in the Atlantic Division with the Portland Pirates (36-30-4-5) with 81 points. Hershey (38-25-4-8) is in third place in the East Division with 88 points.

"Anytime you beat Hershey, you have to be proud of that," said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris. "I thought our group effort was superior. It is one of the best team wins we have had. I think the guys played the system to a tee. Good goaltending and I thought our penalty kill was good. I thought our power play and puck movement was great. We got participation from all four lines and all six (defensemen) so a pretty complete effort."

Right wing Stefan Legein scored his fifth shorthanded goal of the season to give the Monarchs a 2-1 lead at the 14-minute mark of the first period. Defenseman Andrew Campbell was able to poke the puck to Monarchs center Marc-Andre Cliche in the neutral zone. Cliche slapped the puck up the right wing boards to a streaking Legein who broke in, all alone, on Bears netminder Daren Machesney. Legein moved the puck from his forehand to his backhand and lifted a shot over a sprawled out Machesney for his 14th goal of the season. He is now tied for the league lead in shorthanded tallies with five this season.

The Monarchs opened up the scoring with a quick goal off a face-off win in the Bears zone at 5:34 of the first period. Cliche won the face-off and left wing Richard Clune handed it off to left wing David Meckler who carried the puck around the back of the net. Meckler attempted a wrap around shot at the left post. The puck slid under Machesney and deflected off of Clune's skate for his sixth goal of the season.

Center Ryan Potulny evened the score at 1-1 on the power play for the Bears at 10:24 of the first period. Bears defenseman Patrick McNeill passed the puck to left wing Chris Bourque at the left wing half wall. Bourque found Potulny at the top of the right face-off circle for a one-timer that beat Monarchs goaltender Jeff Zatkoff for his 33rd goal of the season.

Following Legein's shorthanded goal, the Monarchs extended their lead to make the score 3-1 at 16:53 on the first period. Right wing Brandon Kozun kicked the puck free and passed it back to the left point to defensemen Nick Deslauriers. The rookie defenseman wristed a long range shot on net that right wing Linden Vey redirected into the net for his 19th goal of the season.

The Monarchs grabbed a 4-1 lead on a blistering slap shot from defenseman Patrick Mullen at 19:44 of the second period. Vey sent the puck from the left wing half wall to Kozun in the left wing face-off circle. Kozun spun around and found Mullen just outside of the right circle. Mullen fired a slap shot that beat Machesney for his 12th goal of the season.

Bears goaltender Scott Greenham relieved Machesney following the second period.

Center Justin Azevedo scored his team leading 28th goal of the season on the power play at 5:26 of the third period. Defenseman Jake Muzzin carried the puck from the left point to the center point before sending a pass to Legein at the bottom of the left wing face-off circle. Legein found Azevedo on the right doorstep of the Bears net for the tap in.

Zatkoff (21-17-1) earned his 21st victory of the season, stopping 19-of-20 shots. Machesney (0-2-1) took his second loss of the season making 12 saves on 16 shots. Greenham (0-2-0) relieved Machesney for the third period making seven saves on eight shots.

Manchester went 1-for-6 on the power play. Hershey was 1-for-3 with the man advantage.

Notables: The Monarchs victory has eliminated the Adirondack Phantoms from playoff contention...The race for the final two playoff positions is between the Monarchs, Portland Pirates and Syracuse Crunch...Right wing Stefan Legein tallied his fifth shorthanded goal this season setting a franchise single season record...Center Justin Azevedo has moved into fourth on the Monarchs all-time lists in both points with 165 and in goals scored with 72.

The Monarchs host the St. John's IceCaps for the final game of the regular season on Fan Appreciation Day at the Verizon Wireless Arena at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 15. Catch all the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail on the Monarchs Radio Network WGIR, WGIR.com and at www.manchestermonarchs.com, presented by Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

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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.

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