AHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Weekly Report

January 7, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

Vs. Worcester (12/31): Left wing Lukas Kaspar froze the clock with 2.1 seconds left in the game as the puck crossed the goal line for the Worcester Sharks 3-2 win over the Manchester Monarchs at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Monday evening. Centers Gabe Gauthier and Brian Boyle tallied for the Monarchs. Right wing Graham Mink scored the other two goals for the Sharks. Monarchs goaltender Erik Ersberg took the loss with 30 saves. Sharks netminder Thomas Greiss stopped 21-of-23 shots for the win. Manchester went 2-for-4 on the power play. Worcester was 2-for-7 with the man advantage.

At Worcester (1/4): An all around team effort against the Worcester Sharks combined for a 5-3 victory for the Manchester Monarchs for their first win of the new year at the DCU Center on Friday night. Center Trevor Lewis, right wing Lauri Tukonen, left wing Matt Moulson, center Brian Boyle and center Brady Murray each collected a goal for the Monarchs. Right wing Riley Armstrong and forward Nate Raduns (2) were the goal scorers for the Sharks. Monarchs goaltender Erik Ersberg stopped 23 shots for his ninth win of the season. Sharks netminder Thomas Greiss made 19 saves in the loss. Manchester went 2-for-4 on the power play. Worcester was 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS (CONTINUED)

Vs. Binghamton (1/5): Right wing Niko Dimitrakos matched his two regulation goals with a pair in the shootout, including the game winner, as the Binghamton Senators defeated the Manchester Monarchs 5-4 in a shootout at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday night. Left wing Matt Moulson (2), center Brian Boyle and center Matt Ryan scored in regulation. Moulson, center Trevor Lewis and center David Meckler also scored in the shootout. Center Scott May and defenseman Lawrence Nycholat added to Dimitrakos' two regulation tallies. Dimitrakos (2), Nycholat and center Ilya Zubov scored in the shootout for Binghamton. Monarchs goaltender Erik Ersberg stopped 31 shots in regulation and two in the shootout. Senators netminder Jeff Glass earned the win with 32 regulation saves and three in the shootout. Manchester went 2-for-4 on the power play. Binghamton was 2-for-5 with the man advantage.

MONARCHS NEWS & NOTES

The Monarchs (15-15-4-2) are in sixth place in the Atlantic Division with 36 points.

The Monarchs power play remains atop the AHL with a 28.7-percentage and the penalty kill is in 29th place with 75.9-percent.

The Monarchs have the best home power play record as they have scored 28 goals on 86 opportunities at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

Manchester has scored at least one power play goal in 11 of their 15 wins this season.

20 of the 36 Monarchs games thus far this season have been determined by one goal. The Monarchs are 8-6-4-2 in one goal games, 2-4-0-0 in two goal games, 1-4-0-0 in three goal games and 4-1-0-0 in four goal games.

Manchester is 11-2-1-0 when leading after the first period and 9-1-1-0 when leading after the second period.

When scoring first in the game, the Monarchs are 10-3-2-0.

The best day of the week for the Monarchs to play is on Saturday. The team is 8-2-2-1 in 13 Saturday games this season. The Monarchs are undefeated in regulation when they play on the road on Saturdays with a record of 3-0-2-1. Manchester is 2-3-1-1 in seven Sunday games, 0-1-0-0 on Mondays and undefeated with one win on a Tuesday. On Wednesdays, the Monarchs have a record of 0-1-0-0. In the lone Thursday game this season, the Monarchs lost in overtime. Manchester is 4-8-0-0 on Fridays thus far this season.

The Monarchs are 3-2 in shootouts this season.

Manchester is winless in their last five games (0-3-1-1) at the Verizon Wireless Arena, a franchise record.

The Monarchs won their first overtime game on the road as center Gabe Gauthier collected a natural hat trick in a span of seven and a half minutes to come from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Worcester Sharks 3-2 in overtime on Saturday, December 29.

Manchester was the only team in the AHL to not allow a shorthanded goal until forward Nate Raduns scored on goaltender Erik Ersberg while the Monarchs had the man advantage in the team's 5-3 win over the Sharks on Friday, January 4.

Right wing Teddy Purcell (12-35=47) leads the Monarchs with 47 points in 36 games.

Purcell has scored at least one point in 28-of-36 games this season.

Purcell's 47 points are also ranked second in the AHL for overall scoring and is ranked first among rookies.

His 35 assists are ranked second in the AHL in that category and also rank first among rookies.

Purcell's 23 assists on the power play are ranked second in the AHL.

His seven power play goals are tied for third among rookies.

Gauthier (13-26=39) is ranked second on the Monarchs squad with 39 points in 33 games.

Gauthier's 26 assists are also tied for second on the Monarchs with defenseman Peter Harrold.

Gauthier has scored at least one point in 24-of-33 games this season.

Gauthier's 39 points are tied for sixth in the AHL.

Gauthier's 26 assists are also tied for seventh place in the AHL in that category.

16 of Gauthier's 26 assists this season have come on the power play which ties him for fifth place in the AHL for power play assists.

Gauthier's eight power play goals are tied for seventh place in the AHL among power play tallies.

Gauthier collected his first professional hat trick by scoring three unanswered goals in a span of seven and a half minutes in the Monarchs 3-2 overtime win against the Sharks on Saturday, December 29.

Gauthier is the latest Monarchs player to score a shorthanded goal for Manchester this season as he netted the tally against the Sharks in the 3-2 overtime win on Saturday, December 29. Gauthier joins center Trevor Lewis, center David Meckler and left wing Jeff Giuliano with shorthanded goals this season.

Center Brian Boyle is ranked third on the Monarchs squad this season and ranked second among AHL rookies with 34 points (16-18=34).

Boyle is also ranked second among AHL rookies with 102 shots on goal this season.

Boyle's 11 power play goals are ranked second overall and first among rookies.

The rookie center's three game-winning goals are also tied for second place among rookies.

Boyle's 16 goals lead AHL rookies.

Boyle's first professional hat trick on Saturday, December 22 against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers tied a franchise record for the most power play tallies in a game. Lewis recorded his first professional hat trick on Saturday, December 8 against the Chicago Wolves by scoring three power play tallies. Center Michael Cammalleri also scored three power play goals in the Monarchs 5-4 shootout win against Lowell on November 19, 2004.

Harrold leads Monarchs blueliners with 33 points (7-26=33) in 35 games.

22 of Harrold's 26 assists have come on the power play which ranks him third in the AHL for power play assists.

The second year defenseman is also ranked first among defensemen with 33 points and 26 assists.

Right wing Kevin Westgarth is ranked 11th in the AHL in penalty minutes with 107 in 33 games. Westgarth is also ranked third among rookies in penalty minutes. He has 16 major penalties that also rank first among rookies.

The Los Angeles Kings assigned right wing John Zeiler to the Monarchs on Friday night. The 6-foot, 196-pound native of Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania, made his 2007-08 debut against the Sharks on Saturday, December 29. Zeiler has one assist in five games.

Ersberg is spending the majority of time between the pipes for the Monarchs. In 22 games between the pipes, Ersberg has a record of 9-7-2, a 2.76 goals-against-average and a .903 save-percentage.

MONARCHS TRANSACTIONS

The Monarchs did not have a player transaction this week.

MONARCHS INJURY REPORT

Center Marc-Andre Cliche is week-to-week with a lower body injury.

Goaltender Dan Cloutier is week-to-week resting a lower body injury.

Center Scott Parse is week-to-week with an upper body injury.

Defenseman Joe Piskula is week-to-week with an upper body injury.

MONARCHS PROMOTIONS

Winning Weekdays - If the Monarchs win on Wednesday, January 9 against the Albany River Rats, fans who attended the game can redeem their ticket for a complimentary ticket to the Monarchs game on Wednesday, January 23 against the Worcester Sharks.

A LOOK AHEAD (all times EASTERN)

Day Date Opponent (Time) Radio (Time)

Wed. 1/9 ALBANY (7:05 p.m.) WGIR-AM (6:35 p.m.) *

Fri. 1/11 @ Rochester (7:35 p.m.) WGIR-AM (7:05 p.m.) *

Sat. 1/12 @ Binghamton (7:05 p.m.) WGIR-AM (6:35 p.m.) *

Sun. 1/13 @ Philadelphia (5:05 p.m.) WGIR-AM (4:35 p.m.) *

*Audio web casts of Monarchs games are also available at www.manchestermonarchs.com/multimedia and video web casts are available 10 minutes prior to every Monarchs game by clicking on the B2 networks icon at www.manchestermonarchs.com.

A LOOK BACK

Day Date Opponent Result Monarchs Goals Monarchs Goalie (Saves/Shots)

Mon. 12/31 WORCESTER 3-2 L Boyle, Gauthier Ersberg (30/33)

Fri. 1/4 @ Worcester 5-3 W Boyle, Lewis, Moulson, Ersberg (23/26)

Murray, Tukonen

Sat. 1/5 BINGHAMTON 5-4 SOL Boyle, Moulson (2), Ryan Ersberg (32/36)



American Hockey League Stories from January 7, 2008


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