Monarchs Toast New Year's With Win Over Falcons
December 31, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release
MANCHESTER, NH - Left wing Noah Clarke, right wing Tim Jackman and defenseman Eric Werner tallied goals and goaltender Jason LaBarbera earned his fourth shutout of the season in the Manchester Monarchs 3-0 blanking of the Springfield Falcons in front of 9,561 fans at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Sunday night.
Manchester (19-10-6-1) is in first place in the Atlantic Division with 45 points. Springfield (19-15-0-1) is tied for second place in the Atlantic Division with 39 points.
Clarke scored a power play goal at 13:29 of the opening period to put the Monarchs up 1-0. Manchester set up in Springfield's zone and began cycling the puck. Left wing Matt Moulson sent it to center Gabe Gauthier who fired it off the end boards. The puck slipped through a player's legs and to Clarke stationed in the left face-off circle. Clarke's one-timer past Falcons netminder Jonathan Boutin was his team leading 12th tally of the season.
Jackman made it 2-0 in the Monarchs favor with a shorthanded goal at 2:33 of the second period. Right wing John Zeiler sat in the penalty box for holding when defenseman Peter Harrold flipped the puck in the air and cleared it out of the Monarchs zone. Jackman gloved the puck down at the Falcons blueline and he skated in on Boutin all alone. Stick-handling the puck, Jackman put the breaks on at Boutin's feet and pulled the puck around the fallen goaltender and into the net. The goal was the Monarchs second shorthanded tally and Jackman's seventh goal of the season.
Manchester made their New Year's Eve game a 3-0 affair at 5:09 of the middle frame with Werner's third goal of the season and second in as many nights. The Falcons went to grab the loose puck in their zone when Werner swiped at it from the right face-off circle. The puck bounced across the ice and past Boutin for the goal. Left wingers Jeff Giuliano and Petr Kanko earned assists on the fluke goal.
LaBarbera earned his third win in a row, 17th of the season with 26 saves. Boutin took the loss stopping 24 shots.
Manchester went 1-for-4 on the power play. Springfield was 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
The Monarchs start the new year with a road game against the Hartford Wolf Pack on Friday, January 5 at the Hartford Civic Center with a 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!
American Hockey League Stories from December 31, 2006
- Stars' streak snapped at five - Iowa Chops
- Griffins Shut Out Another North Division Power - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Bears close out '06 in style - Hershey Bears
- Rivermen Edge Hamilton 3-2 at Home on New Year's Eve - Peoria Rivermen
- Monarchs Toast New Year's With Win Over Falcons - Manchester Monarchs
- Bulldogs Edged by Rivermen - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Wild signs D John Scott - Houston Aeros
- River Rats Topple Sound Tigers - Bridgeport Islanders
- Stafford returns, Amerks at Grand Rapids - Rochester Americans
- Wedderburn Returns to Wolves - Chicago Wolves
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.
