AHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Tricked Up

December 6, 2013 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


PROVIDENCE, RI - The Manchester Monarchs allowed five goals in the third period as they fell to the Providence Bruins, 7-2, at the Dunkin' Donuts Center on Friday night.

Manchester (15-5-1-3) leads the Atlantic Division with 34 points. Providence (12-7-1-2) is tied with the St. John's IceCaps (12-9-1-2) for second place in the Atlantic Division with 27 points each.

"Tonight's first period was a typical workman-like effort we've come to appreciate," said Head Coach Mark Morris. "Things dissipated in the second. By the third period, the wheels came off the wagon. How we respond moving forward is important as expectations are a lot higher for our Monarchs. We were extremely undisciplined with our play. There was very little structure of our systems and a lack of detail throughout our line-up. It's my job to right the ship and get this bunch to play the way we can. It's time for everyone to take a good look in the mirror and be more responsible and accountable. We got our butts kicked!"

Left wing Craig Cunningham gave the Bruins the 3-2 advantage at 1:13 of the third period. Left wing Matt Lindblad carried the puck down the right wing of the Monarchs zone and sent a pass to defenseman David Warsofsky who was skating into the left wing face-off circle. Warsofsky tipped the puck into the slot for Cunningham to one-time past Monarchs goaltender J.F. Berube for his ninth goal of the season.

The Bruins started off the scoring with Warsofsky's first goal of the season at 7:55 of the opening frame. Providence cycled the puck on the power play as defenseman Zach Trotman passed the puck to his blueline partner at the left point. Warsofsky collected the pass and fired a shot from just above the left wing face-off circle for a 1-0 lead. Center Alexander Khokhalchev also assisted on the goal.

Center Nick Shore tied the game at 1-1 at 8:42 of the first period. Shore fired a shot on Bruins netminder Niklas Svedberg but was denied. Shore then picked up his own rebound and banged home his second attempt for his third tally of the season. Right wing Scott Sabourin and left wing Tanner Pearson assisted on the tying goal.

Sabourin gave the Monarchs their only lead of the game at 16:36 of the first period. Defenseman Chris Huxley fired a slap shot from the center point that was stopped by Svedberg. Sabourin was on the doorstep to flip the puck over the netminder for his seventh goal of the season. Left wing Maxim Kitsyn assisted on the tally.

Left wing Matt Fraser tallied his first goal of the game at 10:56 of the second period to tie the game at 2-2. Center Ryan Spooner shot the puck toward the net. Fraser was positioned in front to pick up the bouncing puck and find the back of the net for his 13th tally of the season. Right wing Nick Johnson assisted on the goal.

Fraser gave the Bruins an insurance goal at 6:37 of the third period. Lindblad tried to jam the puck through Berube from the top of the crease. Berube made the save and directed the rebounded to his right where Fraser was stationed. The left wing chipped the puck into the open net as the netminder was down. Johnson assisted on Fraser's 14th goal of the season and second tally of the night.

Khokhlachev picked up his sixth goal of the season at 7:35 of the third period to give the Bruins a 5-2 advantage. Skating on a 3-on-1 advantage, Cunningham skated down the right wing and centered the puck into the slot where Khokhlachev picked up the pass. Khokhlachev then moved the puck from his backhand to his forehand before he flipped the puck over Berube for his sixth tally of the season. Warsofsky also assisted on the Bruins fifth goal of the night.

Defenseman Tommy Cross scored the Bruins fourth goal of the third period at 12:20 of the final stanza. As players began to pile up in front of Berube, the puck popped free and out to the left point. Cross collected the puck and skated to the top of the left wing face-off circle before rifling a slap shot into the top right corner of the net. Right wing Bobby Robins and left wing Anthony Camara assisted on Cross' third goal of the season.

Fraser and Spooner combined for the seventh and final goal of the game at 17:31 of the third period. Skating on the power play, Spooner controlled the puck in the right face-off circle. Fraser positioned himself in front of Berube so when Spooner fired a shot from the circle, the left wing redirected the puck into the net. Defenseman Joe Morrow assisted on Fraser's third goal of the night.

Berube (6-4-1) took his fourth loss of the season stopping 26-of-33 shots. Svedberg (9-3-2) earned his ninth win of the season making 25 saves on 27 shots.

Manchester was 0-for-1 on the power play. Providence went 2-for-3 with the man advantage.



American Hockey League Stories from December 6, 2013


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