AHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Weekly Report

February 4, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

At Portland (2/1): Goaltender Daniel Taylor stopped 23 shots for his sixth consecutive win between the pipes as the Manchester Monarchs' 4-2 win over the Portland Pirates at the Cumberland County Civic Center moved them into playoff contention on Friday night. The Monarchs collected goals from center Brian Boyle and center David Meckler as well as first tallies of the season from right wing Vladimir Dravecky and defenseman Drew Bagnall. Center Jason King scored both power play goals for the Pirates. Portland goaltender Mike McKenna took the loss with 26 saves. Manchester went 0-for-3 on the power play. Portland was 2-for-4 with the man advantage.

At Worcester (2/2): Right wing Graham Mink had a hand in every goal as the Worcester Sharks skated past the Manchester Monarchs 3-1 at the DCU Center on Saturday night. Center Gabe Gauthier scored the lone Monarchs goal in the second period. Mink scored twice and assisted on forward T.J. Fox's game-winning goal. Monarchs goaltender Daniel Taylor took his first loss since December 30 stopping 35-of-38 shots. Sharks netminder Dimitri Patzold earned the win with 27 saves. Manchester went 1-for-3 on the power play. Worcester was 0-for-3 with the man advantage.

MONARCHS NEWS & NOTES

The Monarchs (22-20-4-2) are in fifth place in the Atlantic Division with 50 points, only one point behind the fourth place Springfield Falcons (21-19-4-5, 51 points).

The Monarchs have a home record of 10-12-1-1 and a road record of 12-8-3-1.

The Monarchs power play remains atop the AHL with a 24.5-percentage and the penalty kill is in 28th place with 77.7-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 23 goals on 109 opportunities.

Manchester has scored at least one power play goal in 14 of their 22 wins this season.

24 of the 48 Monarchs games thus far this season have been determined by one goal. The Monarchs are 11-7-4-2 in one goal games, 4-6-0-0 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 16-1-1-0 when leading after the second period.

When scoring first in the game, the Monarchs are 16-5-2-0.

The best day of the week for the Monarchs to play is on Saturday. The team is 9-5-2-2 in 18 Saturday games this season. 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 8-8-0-0 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 (15-40=55) leads the Monarchs with 55 points in 43 games.

Purcell was named the MVP of the 2008 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Reebok after he scored three goals and the decisive game-winning shootout tally for the Canadian All-Stars.

Purcell has scored at least one point in 33-of-43 games with the Monarchs this season.

Purcell's 55 points are also ranked fourth in the AHL for overall scoring and is ranked first among rookies.

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

His 40 assists rank third in the AHL in that category and also rank first among rookies.

Purcell's 26 assists on the power play are tied for second in the AHL with Monarchs defenseman Peter Harrold.

His nine power play goals are tied for 11th place overall with linemate left wing Matt Moulson. Purcell's power play tallies are also tied for third among rookies.

Center Gabe Gauthier (16-28=44) is ranked second on the Monarchs squad with 44 points in 42 games.

Gauthier went 4-for-4 in the accuracy shooting event as he represented PlanetUSA at the 2008 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Reebok. Gauthier is only the second person in AHL history to go 4-for-4 in the event. Former Providence Bruins' Andy Hilbert went 4-for-4 in the 2005 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic held in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Gauthier's 28 assists are ranked third on the Monarchs squad.

Gauthier has scored at least one point in 28-of-42 games this season.

Gauthier's 44 points are ranked 14th in the AHL.

16 of Gauthier's 28 assists this season have come on the power play which ties him for sixth place in the AHL for power play assists.

Gauthier's 10 power play goals are tied for fifth place in the AHL among power play tallies.

Center Brian Boyle is ranked third on the Monarchs squad this season and ranked second among AHL rookies with 43 points (21-22=43). He was recalled by the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, February 2. In his debut, he collected a goal and an assist in the Kings 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

Boyle is also tied for second among AHL rookies with 139 shots on goal this season.

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

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

Boyle's 21 goals lead AHL rookies.

Defenseman Peter Harrold leads Monarchs blueliners and is ranked fourth on the team with 39 points (7-32=39) in 45 games. Harrold was recalled by the Kings on Saturday, February 2 and played that night.

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

The second year defenseman also shares the lead among defensemen with 39 points and leads blueliners with 32 assists.

Right wing Kevin Westgarth is tied for 13th place in the AHL in penalty minutes with 132 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 won six of his last seven starts in net with the Monarchs. In 13 games this season, Taylor has a record of 8-3-0, 2.00 goals-against-average and a .936 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's shutout streak ended when center Jason King of the Portland Pirates scored at the four minute mark in the first period of Friday's game to bring his total streak time to 189 minutes and 36 seconds.

Taylor did not allowed an even strength goal from January 13 until the game on February 2. He shut down the opponent when playing 5-on-5 hockey for a total of 336 minutes and 31 seconds. During that time, Taylor allowed four power play goals.

MONARCHS TRANSACTIONS

2-2-08 - The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) recalled center Brian Boyle and defenseman Peter Harrold from the Manchester Monarchs (AHL).

2-1-08 - The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) loaned defenseman Kevin Dallman for a conditioning assignment to the Manchester Monarchs (AHL).

1-28-08 - 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.

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.



American Hockey League Stories from February 4, 2008


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