Monarchs Three-Game Streak Snapped By Pirates
March 28, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release
MANCHESTER, NH - Goaltender David McKee stopped 17 shots in his second AHL game for his first professional shutout as the Manchester Monarchs dropped a 3-0 decision to the Portland Pirates in front of a crowd of 6,332 at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Wednesday night.
Manchester (42-20-6-1) is leading the Atlantic Division with 85 points. The Pirates (32-27-3-9) is in second in the Atlantic Division with 76 points.
After a calm 19 minutes and 18 seconds, defenseman Sean Blanchard stirred things up with his first goal of the season. Center Ryan Dingle passed the puck to the top of the left face-off circle. Blanchard, with his eye on Monarchs goaltender Jason LaBarbera, received the pass and pulled the trigger. The puck traveled on the ice and trickled past Labarbera's glove side and into the net to steal an early 1-0 lead for the Pirates. Also collecting an assist on the goal was right wing Simon Ferguson.
Losing no rhythm from the intermission break, Blanchard came out scoring his second goal of the night at the 5:15 mark of the second period. Left wing Trevor Gillies sent a pass to the far left point where Blanchard was stationed. Blanchard reloaded his canon and release a snap shot on net. The puck hit choppy ice and bounced over Labarbera's left leg lighting the lamp. Defenseman Doug O'Brien assisted on the goal for his 22nd point of the season.
Right wing Joe Motzko made it 3-0 when he took a shot from over the blueline for his 25th goal of the year on an empty net. Earning assists on the goal were defenseman Brian Salcido and O'Brien at the 19:46 mark of the final frame.
LaBarbera took the loss with 21 saves on 23 shots. McKee earned the win by stopping all 17 shots on goal.
Manchester went 0-for-3 on the power play. Portland was 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
The Monarchs travel to Albany, New York, to take on the Albany River Rats on Friday, March 30 at the Times Union Center with the opening face-off at 7:00 p.m. Catch all of the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail on the Monarchs Radio Network WGIR-AM 610 and at www.monarchshockey.com. Watch the game live on B2 Networks for just $6 per game. Log onto www.monarchshockey.com and click on the link to B2 Networks ten minutes prior to each Monarchs game to watch the game live.
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American Hockey League Stories from March 28, 2007
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