AHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Weekly Report

Published on November 24, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

At Hamilton (11/19): Center Justin Azevedo picked up three assists in his debut as the Manchester Monarchs topped the Hamilton Bulldogs, 4-2, at the Copps Coliseum on Wednesday night. Left wing Matt Moulson, right wing Teddy Purcell, defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov and left wing Scott Parse picked up tallies for the Monarchs. Centers Ben Maxwell and Brock Trotter found the net for the Bulldogs. Monarchs' goaltender Jonathan Bernier earned the win with 26 saves. Bulldogs' netminder Marc Denis took the loss stopping 17-of-21 shots. Manchester went 2-for-4 on the power play. Hamilton was 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

At Rochester (11/21): Right wing Teddy Purcell tallied on the power play to carry the Manchester Monarchs past the Rochester Americans, 4-2, at the Blue Cross Arena on Friday night. Along with Purcell's power play tally, center Justin Azevedo scored on the power play, defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov scored at even strength and defenseman Andrew Campbell scored a shorthanded empty netter for Manchester. Right wing Dan Collins scored both goals for the Americans. Monarchs' goaltender Jonathan Quick picked up his second win of the season with 21 saves. Americans' netminder Chris Beckford-Tseu was pulled in the first period after stopping 16-of-18 shots and was replaced by goaltender David Shantz who took the loss with 18 saves. Manchester went 2-for-8 on the power play. Rochester was 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

At Lake Erie (11/22): Goaltender Jonathan Bernier won the battle of the netminders with his first shutout of the season as the Manchester Monarchs blanked the Lake Erie Monsters 1-0 in a shootout victory at the Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday afternoon for their third win in a row. Monarchs center Justin Azevedo scored the lone goal in the shootout for the victory. Bernier stopped all 27 shots he faced in regulation and all five shootout snipers. Monsters' netminder Tyler Weiman also stopped 27 shots in regulation and 3-of-4 shootout snipers. Manchester and Lake Erie both went 0-for-4 on the power play.

MONARCHS NEWS & NOTES

Manchester is ranked seventh in the Atlantic Division after 15 games with a record of 6-6-0-3 and 15 points. The team's 15 games are the fewest games played by any team in the AHL. However, the Monarchs should catch up with the other teams as they have five games in six days this week.

The team is currently on a three-game winning streak, the longest of the season.

The Monarchs have gained at least a point in six of their last seven games.

Manchester has a winning road record going 4-3-0-0 in seven road games. The Monarchs are in the middle of a five-game road trip having won the first three games.

The Monarchs are ranked 26th in the AHL on the power play. The team is 10-for-87 with the man advantage for an

11.5-percent rating.

Manchester moved from 26th place in the AHL at the beginning of last week to 16th place on the penalty kill by stopping their opponents on all 14 power plays opportunities over their last three games. The team has stopped their opponent 70 times on 84 opportunities for an 83.3-percent rating this season.

Manchester is undefeated in regulation on Fridays this season. The Monarchs are 4-0-0-1 on Fridays.

When the Monarchs score first, they gain a point. Manchester is 4-0-0-3 in the seven games where they have scored first.

Manchester also earns a point when they have the lead following both the first period (4-0-0-3) and the second period (3-0-0-1).

The Monarchs are undefeated when scoring four or more goals (4-0-0-0).

After going 2-4-0-1 in the month of October, the Monarchs are 4-2-0-2 in November with five games remaining in the month.

Saturday's 1-0 shootout victory over the Lake Erie Monsters was the first win for the Monarchs on a Saturday this season (1-5-0-0).

Manchester is undefeated in regulation against teams in the Western Conference this season with a record of 3-0-0-1. They are undefeated against teams in the North Division (3-0-0-0) with the only shootout loss in the West Division coming against the Chicago Wolves on November 9.

Center Gabe Gauthier (3-11=14) leads the Monarchs in scoring with 14 points.

Gauthier also leads the Monarchs in the plus/minus category this season with a plus-5 rating.

Gauthier is tied for sixth place with defenseman Denis Grebeshkov on the Monarchs all-time assist list with 76 assists in 145 games. He is also ranked 10th on the Monarchs all-time goals list with 40 tallies and ninth in scoring with 116 points.

Reigning AHL Rookie of the Year right wing Teddy Purcell moved into second place on the Monarchs with two goals and two assists last week for a total of 12 points (6-6=12) in 15 games.

Purcell had a four-game goal scoring streak snapped in Saturday's 1-0 shootout win against Lake Erie. The right winger scored four goals in four games from November 14 - 21. He also collected seven points (4-3=7) over that four game time frame.

Purcell leads the Monarchs in goal scoring with six tallies this season.

Left wing Trevor Lewis (3-7=10) ranks third on the Monarchs after 15 games with three goals and seven assists for 10 points.

Left wing Matt Moulson has collected four goals and four assists for eight points in seven games since he was assigned to Manchester by Los Angeles on Monday, November 3.

Moulson is ranked sixth in the Monarchs all-time record books for goals with 57 tallies. He moved up to seventh all-time with 121 points after collecting four points in three games last week. Moulson is also tied for seventh place with an all-time plus/minus rating of plus-34.

Right wing David Meckler (4-3=7) is ranked fourth on the Monarchs in scoring with seven points.

Left wing Vladimir Dravecky (1-5=6) is tied with defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov (3-3=6) for fifth on the Monarchs in scoring. They are both tied for second on the squad with a plus/minus rating of plus-3.

Voynov collected two goals in three games last week to move into the lead among Monarchs blueliners.

Center Justin Azevedo made his professional debut against the Hamilton Bulldogs on Wednesday night after being sidelined with a broken wrist. The 5-foot-7, 183-pound native of West Lorne, Ontario, collected three assists in his debut, the most points scored by a rookie in his Monarchs debut.

Azevedo scored his first professional goal in Friday's 4-2 win over Rochester. He has four points (1-3=4) in three games and scored the game-winning shootout tally in Saturday's 1-0 shootout win over Lake Erie.

Right wing Kevin Westgarth's team leading 55 penalty minutes are tied for 17th place in the AHL. He is also ranked ninth in the Monarchs all-time penalty minutes category with 290 penalty minutes over the parts of three seasons.

Left wing Paul Crosty is ranked seventh all-time on the Monarchs with 368 penalty minutes over the last three seasons.

Goaltender Jonathan Bernier collected his first professional shutout stopping all 27 shots in regulation and all five shootout snipers in Saturday's 1-0 shootout win over Lake Erie.

With Bernier's two wins last week, including Saturday's shutout, he has moved up to 15th place in that AHL with a 2.59 goals-against-average.

Bernier's four shootout games that he has backstopped is the most by any goaltender in the AHL this season. He is tied for first with two shootout wins and tied for second for with two shootout losses.

MONARCHS TRANSACTIONS

11/17/08 - The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) recalled right wing John Zeiler from the Manchester Monarchs (AHL) after his two-week conditioning stint.

11/19/08 - The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) activated left wing Richard Clune from the injured reserve and assigned him to the Manchester Monarchs (AHL).

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American Hockey League Stories from November 24, 2008


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