AHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Weekly Report

Published on February 25, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

At Springfield (2/18): Defenseman Troy Milam tallied twice to lift the Manchester Monarchs to their first win in six games, a 2-1 overtime victory over the Springfield Falcons at the MassMutual Center on Monday afternoon. Milam scored the first and last goals of the game. Defenseman Theo Peckham scored the lone goal for the Falcons. Monarchs goaltender Daniel Taylor earned his ninth win of the season stopping 35-of-36 shots. Falcons netminder Devan Dubnyk took the overtime loss with 21 saves. Manchester went 1-for-5 on the power play. Springfield was 0-for-6 with the man advantage.

Vs. Norfolk (2/22): Goaltender Jonathan Boutin stopped 41 shots and 6-of-7 shootout attempts to lead the Norfolk Admirals to a 3-2 shootout victory over the Manchester Monarchs on Friday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena. Center Marc-Andre Cliche and defenseman Richard Petiot each scored for the Monarchs in regulation. The Admirals collected goals from right wing Kyle Wanvig and left wing Karl Stewart in regulation. Monarchs center Trevor Lewis was the only player to score in the shootout. Center Paul Szczechura and right wing Junior Lessard tallied in the shootout for Norfolk. Monarchs goaltender Daniel Taylor took the loss stopping 26-of-28 shots in regulation and overtime as well as 5-of-7 shootout attempts. Manchester went 0-for-4 on the power play. Norfolk was 2-for-5 with the man advantage.

Vs. Norfolk (2/23): Centers Brian Boyle, David Meckler and left wing Matt Moulson all scored in the second shootout in as many nights to dramatically carry the Manchester Monarchs to a 7-6 victory over the Norfolk Admirals at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday night. Boyle, Moulson (2), Meckler, right wing John Zeiler and center Gabe Gauthier scored in regulation for Manchester. Norfolk collected tallies from right wing Junior Lessard, right wing Norm Milley (2), right wing Kyle Wanvig, center Blair Jones and center Paul Szczechura. In the shootout, Monarchs goaltender Daniel Taylor stopped every shooter except Szczechura while Admirals netminder Marc Denis let in three goals. Taylor stopped 17 shots in regulation. Denis collected 31 saves. Manchester went 3-for-4 on the power play. Norfolk was 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

MONARCHS NEWS & NOTES

The Monarchs (25-24-4-4, 58 points) continue to battle with the Springfield Falcons (26-22-5-5, 62 points) for fourth place in the Atlantic Division. Springfield is currently leading by four points.

The Monarchs have a home record of 12-13-1-3 and a road record of 13-11-3-1.

The Monarchs power play remains atop the AHL with a 24.2-percentage and the penalty kill is in 29th place with 77.6-percent.

The Monarchs have the best home power play record as they have scored 36 goals on 130 opportunities at the Verizon Wireless Arena. They are ranked fifth on the road with a power play record of 27 goals on 130 opportunities.

Manchester has scored at least one power play goal in 17 of their 25 wins this season.

30 of the 57 Monarchs games thus far this season have been determined by one goal. The Monarchs are 14-8-4-4 in one goal games, 4-8-0-0 in two goal games, 1-6-0-0 in three goal games and 6-2-0-0 in four goal games.

Manchester is 17-3-1-1 when leading after the first period and 16-1-1-1 when leading after the second period.

When scoring first in the game, the Monarchs are 18-6-2-2.

The best day of the week for the Monarchs to play is on Saturday. The team is 10-7-2-2 in 21 Saturday games this season. Manchester is 3-3-1-0 in seven Sunday games, 2-1-0-0 on Mondays and undefeated with one win on a Tuesday. On Wednesdays, the Monarchs have a record of 1-5-0-0. In the lone Thursday game this season, the Monarchs lost in overtime. Manchester is 8-8-0-2 on Fridays thus far this season.

The Monarchs are 5-4 in shootouts this season.

Right wing Teddy Purcell (16-42=58) leads the Monarchs with 58 points in 47 games. He was recalled by the Los Angeles Kings on Friday, February 15 and scored his first NHL goal later that night in the Kings 6-3 win over the Calgary Flames. In 10 games with the Kings this season, Purcell has one goal and two assists for three points and a plus/minus rating of plus-2.

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 35-of-47 games with the Monarchs this season.

Purcell's 58 points are also tied for fifth in the AHL for overall scoring and is ranked first among rookies.

The rookie's 16 goals are tied for sixth place among league rookies.

His 42 assists are tied for fourth place in the AHL in that category and also rank first among rookies.

Purcell's 27 assists on the power play place him in third place in the AHL with Monarchs and ranks first among AHL rookies.

His nine power play goals are tied for 19th place overall with linemate left wing Matt Moulson. Purcell's power play tallies are also ranked fourth among rookies.

Center Gabe Gauthier (20-32=52) is ranked second on the Monarchs squad with 52 points in 51 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 32 assists are ranked third on the Monarchs squad.

Gauthier has scored at least one point in 33-of-51 games this season.

Gauthier's 52 points ties him in 11th place in the AHL.

18 of Gauthier's 32 assists this season have come on the power play, which ties him for 10th place in the AHL for power play assists.

Gauthier's 14 power play goals are ranked third 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 45 points (22-23=45). 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. In eight games with the Kings since his debut, Boyle has four goals and an assist for five points and a plus-4 rating. Boyle was assigned to Manchester on Sunday, February 17.

Boyle also ranks third among AHL rookies with 157 shots on goal this season.

Boyle's 12 power play goals are tied for fifth overall and tied for first among rookies.

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

Boyle's 22 goals lead AHL rookies.

Defenseman Peter Harrold leads Monarchs blueliners, is ranked fourth on the team and is in second place in the AHL among defensemen with 43 points (7-36=43) in 49 games. Harrold was recalled by the Kings on Tuesday, February 19. He scored his first NHL goal in the Kings 6-5 overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday, February 23. Harrold has two points (1-1=2) and a plus/minus rating of plus-1 in seven games with the Kings this season.

29 of Harrold's 36 assists have come on the power play, which ranks second in the league.

Moulson rounds out the Monarchs top five scorers with 38 points (20-18=38) in 36 games this season. The second year left wing has played in 22 games with the Kings this season and recorded nine points (5-4=9) and a plus/minus rating of plus-2.

Right wing Kevin Westgarth is tied for 26th place in the AHL in penalty minutes with 143 in 50 games. Westgarth is also ranked fourth among rookies in penalty minutes. He has 19 major penalties that also ranks first among rookies.

Left wing Paul Crosty is tied for 14th in the AHL with 160 penalty minutes in 34 games.

In 30 games between the pipes, goaltender Erik Ersberg has a record of 10-13-2, a 2.92 goals-against-average and a .897 save-percentage. He was recalled by the Kings on Wednesday, February 20 and served as the backup goaltender in the Kings 5-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, February 21.

Ersberg made his NHL debut in the Kings 6-5 overtime loss to the Blackhawks on Saturday, February 23. The rookie goaltender replaced netminder Dan Cloutier in the second period of Saturday's game when the score was in favor of Chicago 5-1. The Kings battled back and tied the game with 13 seconds left in regulation. In 31 minutes and 14 seconds of playing time, Ersberg stopped 18-of-19 shots in his first overtime loss in the NHL. He currently has a 1.94 goals-against-average and a .947 save-percentage with the Kings.

Netminder Daniel Taylor is 3-2-2 in his last seven games for the Monarchs. In 18 games this season, Taylor has a record of 10-4-2, 2.30 goals-against-average and a .925 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 the game on Friday February 1 to bring his total streak time to 189 minutes and 36 seconds.

Taylor did not allow 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.

Netminder Jean-Sebastien Aubin joins the Monarchs following 19 games with the Kings this season. He collected a record of 5-6-1, a 3.19 goals-against-average and a .886 save-percentage while playing in Los Angeles.

Cloutier was recalled by the Kings on Thursday, February 7 and played on Sunday, February 10 against Columbus, his first NHL game since December 23, 2006. Cloutier earned a 3-2 shutout win over the Blue Jackets on Sunday for his first NHL win since December 9, 2006. In four games with the Kings, Cloutier has a 2-0-0 record, a 3.42 goals-against-average and a .894 save-percentage.

MONARCHS TRANSACTIONS

2-21-08 - The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) assigned right wing Lauri Tukonen to the Manchester Monarchs (AHL).

2-21-08 - The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) recalled goaltender Erik Ersberg from the Manchester Monarchs (AHL).

2-21-08 - The Manchester Monarchs (AHL) recalled defenseman Patrik Hersley from the Reading Royals (ECHL).

2-19-08 - The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) recalled defenseman Peter Harrold from the Manchester Monarchs (AHL).

MONARCHS INJURY REPORT

Defenseman Drew Bagnall is week-to-week with an upper body injury.

MONARCHS IN THE COMMUNITY

Max's Birthday Is Tuesday - Join the Monarchs and Max's mascot friends as they celebrate Max's 7th Birthday during the Monarchs game against the Lowell Devils on Tuesday, February 26.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 25, 2008


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