AHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Weekly Report

January 28, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

Vs. Worcester (1/23): For the second time this season, left wing Petr Kanko scored the winning goal while goaltender Daniel Taylor recorded his second shutout in as many games as the Manchester Monarchs beat the Worcester Sharks 2-0 at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Wednesday evening breaking the Monarchs six game home losing streak. Right wing Kevin Westgarth also lit the lamp for the Monarchs. Sharks goaltender Taylor Dakers took the loss with 34 saves on 36 shots. Manchester went 0-for-5 on the power play. Worcester was 0-for-6 with the man advantage.

Vs. Lowell (1/24): Goaltender Daniel Taylor extended his shutout streak to 185 minutes and 36 seconds as the Manchester Monarchs beat the Lowell Devils 4-0 at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday night. The win was the second consecutive shutout victory in Manchester for the Monarchs after losing six in a row at home. Center Gabe Gauthier tallied twice and center Brian Boyle and right wing Lauri Tukonen scored for the Monarchs. Taylor stopped all 32 shots he faced between the pipes. Devils goaltender Jordan Parise took the loss with 25 saves. Manchester went 1-for-3 on the power play. Lowell was 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

Vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (1/26): Goaltender David Brown's solid relief effort made center Kurtis McLean's 15th goal of the season stand as the game-winner as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins topped the Manchester Monarchs 3-2 at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday night. Left wing Matt Moulson and right wing Teddy Purcell each scored in their first game back from their call-ups to the Los Angeles Kings. In addition to McLean's goal, the Penguins collected tallies from center Chris Minard and center Nathan Smith. Monarchs goaltender Dan Cloutier took the loss with 13 saves. Brown stopped all 25 shots he faced through two periods after replacing netminder John Curry who stopped 3-of-5 shots in the first period. Manchester went 0-for-5 on the power play. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

MONARCHS NEWS & NOTES

The Monarchs (21-19-4-2) are in fifth place in the Atlantic Division with 48 points, only one point behind the fourth place Springfield Falcons (20-18-4-5, 49 points).

Manchester has collected 12 points in their last nine games to bring them to within one point of fourth place in the Atlantic Division.

Manchester's franchise record six game home losing streak (0-4-1-1) ended when goaltender Daniel Taylor stopped all 35 shots he faced against the Worcester Sharks on Wednesday.

The Monarchs have a home record of 10-12-1-1 and a road record of 11-7-3-1.

The Monarchs power play remains atop the AHL with a 24.8-percentage and the penalty kill is in 28th place with 77.9-percent.

The Monarchs have the best home power play record as they have scored 29 goals on 103 opportunities at the Verizon Wireless Arena. They are ranked fourth on the road with a power play record of 22 goals on 103 opportunities.

Manchester has scored at least one power play goal in 14 of their 21 wins this season.

24 of the 46 Monarchs games thus far this season have been determined by one goal. The Monarchs are 11-7-4-2 in one goal games, 3-5-0-0 in two goal games, 1-6-0-0 in three goal games and 6-1-0-0 in four goal games.

Manchester is 15-3-1-0 when leading after the first period and 15-1-1-0 when leading after the second period.

When scoring first in the game, the Monarchs are 15-5-2-0.

The best day of the week for the Monarchs to play is on Saturday. The team is 9-4-2-2 in 17 Saturday games this season. The Monarchs took their first road loss on Saturday on January 19 against the Chicago Wolves to bring their road Saturday record to 4-1-2-1. Manchester is 3-3-1-0 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 1-3-0-0. In the lone Thursday game this season, the Monarchs lost in overtime. Manchester is 7-8-0-0 on Fridays thus far this season.

The Monarchs are 4-2 in shootouts this season.

For the first time in franchise history, the Monarchs held a team to zero shots on goal in a period as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins could not muster a shot on goal in the third period of the game on Saturday, January 26.

Right wing Teddy Purcell (15-39=54) leads the Monarchs with 54 points in 41 games. Recalled by the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, January 15, the 6-foot-3, 195-pound native of St. John's Newfoundland, made his debut against the Edmonton Oilers that night. Purcell had one assist in four games with the Kings before being reassigned to Manchester on Friday, January 25.

Purcell has scored at least one point in 32-of-41 games with the Monarchs this season.

Purcell's 54 points are also ranked third in the AHL for overall scoring and is ranked first among rookies.

The rookie's 15 goals are tied for third place among league rookies.

His 39 assists rank third in the AHL in that category and also rank first among rookies.

Purcell's 25 assists on the power play are ranked third in the AHL.

His nine power play goals are tied for eighth place overall with linemates left wing Matt Moulson and center Gabe Gauthier. Purcell's power play tallies are also tied for third among rookies.

Gauthier (15-27=42) is tied for second on the Monarchs squad with 42 points in 40 games with center Brian Boyle.

Gauthier's 27 assists are ranked third on the Monarchs squad.

Gauthier has scored at least one point in 26-of-40 games this season.

Gauthier's 42 points are tied for 13th in the AHL.

16 of Gauthier's 27 assists this season have come on the power play which ties him for fifth place in the AHL for power play assists.

Gauthier's nine power play goals are tied for eighth place in the AHL among power play tallies with Purcell and Moulson.

Boyle is tied with Gauthier for second place on the Monarchs squad this season and ranked second among AHL rookies with 42 points (20-22=42).

Boyle is also ranked second among AHL rookies with 134 shots on goal this season.

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

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

Boyle's 20 goals lead AHL rookies.

Defenseman Peter Harrold leads Monarchs blueliners and is ranked fourth on the team with 39 points (7-32=39) in 44 games.

26 of Harrold's 32 assists have come on the power play which leads the league.

The second year defenseman also leads defensemen with 39 points and leads blueliners with 32 assists.

Right wing Kevin Westgarth is tied for 11th place in the AHL in penalty minutes with 130 in 43 games. Westgarth is also ranked third among rookies in penalty minutes. He has 18 major penalties that also ranks first among rookies.

Goaltender Erik Ersberg is spending the majority of time between the pipes for the Monarchs. In 26 games between the pipes, Ersberg has a record of 10-10-2, a 2.93 goals-against-average and a .897 save-percentage.

Netminder Daniel Taylor has won his last five starts in net with the Monarchs. In 11 games this season, Taylor has a record of 7-2-0, 1.90 goals-against-average and a .939 save-percentage.

Taylor earned his first professional shutout by stopping all 30 shots by the Milwaukee Admirals in the Monarchs 1-0 win on Friday, January 18 and his second shutout on Wednesday, January 23 with 35 saves in the Monarchs 2-0 win over the Worcester Sharks. His third consecutive shutout came on Friday, January 25 when the Monarchs topped the Lowell Devils 4-0 and Taylor stopped all 32 shots he faced.

Taylor is 34 minutes and one second away from tying goaltender Travis Scott's franchise record of 219 minutes and 37 seconds of shutout hockey. Taylor has 185 minutes and 36 seconds of shutout through four games. Taylor would need 64 minutes and 15 seconds to tie the AHL's leading shutout record set by goaltender Johnny Bower from November 27, 1957 to December 7, 1957 when he did not allow a goal for 249 minutes and 51 seconds.

AHL Shutout Record Monarchs Shutout Record

Johnny Bower (11/27/57 - 12/7/57)..........249:51 Travis Scott (12/15/01 - 12/29/01)............219:37

Taylor's Current Shutout Record

Daniel Taylor (1/16/08 - present)..............185:36

MONARCHS TRANSACTIONS

1-25-08 - The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) assigned left wing Matt Moulson and right wing Teddy Purcell to the Manchester Monarchs (AHL).

1-21-08 - The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) recalled left wing Matt Moulson from the Manchester Monarchs (AHL).

MONARCHS INJURY REPORT

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

Right wing Vladimir Dravecky is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Defenseman Patrik Hersley is day-to-day 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 Monday, February 4 against the Milwaukee Admirals, fans who attend the game can redeem their ticket for a complimentary ticket to the Monarchs game on Tuesday, February 26 against the Lowell Devils.

MONARCHS COMMUNITY

Manchester Boys And Girls Club - Goaltender Daniel Taylor, defenseman Patrik Hersley, center Scott Parse and left wing Matt Moulson will be at the Manchester Boys And Girls Club on Tuesday, January 29 teaching the children how to play street hockey from 4-5:15 p.m.



American Hockey League Stories from January 28, 2008


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