AHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Weekly Report

Published on December 1, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

At Chicago (11/25): An all-around team effort gave the Manchester Monarchs their fourth consecutive victory, a 7-2 win over the reigning Calder Cup champion Chicago Wolves at the Allstate Arena on Tuesday night. Center Justin Azevedo, right wing Bud Holloway, right wing Trevor Lewis, left wing Scott Parse, right wing Teddy Purcell (2) and right wing Kevin Westgarth tallied for the Monarchs. Right wing Joe Motzko and left wing Colin Stuart scored for Chicago. Monarchs' goaltender Jonathan Quick earned his third win of the season stopping 29 shots. Wolves' netminder Dan Turple took his second loss of the season with 16 saves before he was replaced by goaltender Robert Gherson who made 11 saves. Manchester went 2-for-3 on the power play. Chicago was 1-for-6 with the man advantage.

At Grand Rapids (11/26): It took seven rounds in the shootout for the Manchester Monarchs to extinguish the Grand Rapids Griffins, 3-2, in a shootout at the Van Andel Arena on Wednesday night for their fifth consecutive road win. Center Justin Azevedo scored both goals in regulation for the Monarchs and the game-winner in the shootout. Right wing Darren Haydar and center Aaron Gagnon tallied for the Griffins. Monarchs' goaltender Jonathan Bernier picked up his third shootout win of the season with 31 saves. Grand Rapids' netminder Jimmy Howard took his second shootout loss stopping 26-of-28 shots. Manchester went 0-for-4 on the power play. Grand Rapids was also 0-for-1 with the man advantage.

Vs. Portland (11/28): Goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped 41 shots to give the Manchester Monarchs their sixth consecutive win with a 3-1 victory over the Portland Pirates at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday night. Right wing Bud Holloway and right wing Trevor Lewis (2) scored for the Monarchs. Center Tyler Bouck picked up the lone goal for the Pirates. Quick stopped 41 shots for his fourth win of the season. Pirates' netminder Adam Dennis took the loss with 27 saves. Manchester went 1-for-4 on the power play. Portland was 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

At Hartford (11/29): Left wing Jordan Owens scored with 31-seconds remaining in the game to end the Manchester Monarchs winning streak at six games with a 2-1 loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack at the XL Center on Saturday night. Right wing Teddy Purcell scored the lone goal for Manchester. Center Greg Moore picked up the first tally for the Wolf Pack. Monarchs' goaltender Jonathan Bernier took the loss with 28 saves on 30 shots. Wolf Packs' netminder Matt Zaba earned his third win of the season with 26 saves. Manchester went 1-for-4 on the power play. Hartford was 1-for-3 with the man advantage.

At Portland (11/30): Goaltender Jhonas Enroth stopped all 23 shots as the Manchester Monarchs were blanked by the Portland Pirates, 4-0, at the Cumberland County Civic Center on Sunday evening. Left wing Derek Whitmore, center Colton Fretter (2) and center Nathan Gerbe scored for Portland. Monarchs' goaltender Jonathan Bernier took the loss with 22 saves. Enroth earned his sixth win and second shutout of the season with 23 saves. Manchester went 0-for-3 on the power play. Portland was 0-for-7 with the man advantage.

MONARCHS NEWS & NOTES

Manchester is in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 21 points.

The team collected six consecutive wins including a five-game road winning streak that ended with Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack. The Monarchs longest road winning streak in franchise history is six games which came November 12, 2004 - December 3, 2004 and then again December 22, 2007 - January 13, 2008. Manchester's longest consecutive road winning streak (with no home games in the middle) prior to the current streak was four games coming January 15, 2007 - January 21, 2007.

The Monarchs have won seven of their last 10 games.

The Monarchs are ranked 26th in the AHL on the power play. The team is 14-for-105 with the man advantage for a

13.3-percent rating.

Manchester has stopped their opponent 89 times on 106 power play opportunities for an 84.0-percent rating this season, good for 13th place.

Manchester is undefeated in regulation on Fridays this season. The Monarchs are 5-0-0-1 on Fridays.

When the Monarchs score first, they have gained a point in every game but one. Manchester is 6-1-0-3 in the 10 games where they have scored first.

Manchester also earns a point when they have the lead following the first period (6-0-0-3).

Saturday's game against Hartford on Saturday was the first time the Monarchs lost after taking the lead into the second period (4-1-0-1).

The Monarchs are undefeated when scoring four or more goals (5-0-0-0).

After going 2-4-0-1 in the month of October, the Monarchs went 7-4-0-2 in November.

The Monarchs have only one win on a Saturday this season (1-6-0-0).

Manchester is undefeated in regulation against teams in the Western Conference this season with a record of 5-0-0-1. They are undefeated against teams in the North Division (4-0-0-0) with the only shootout loss in the West Division coming against the Chicago Wolves on November 9.

Reigning AHL Rookie of the Year right wing Teddy Purcell leads the Monarchs in both goals scored (nine) and points (9-9=18) through 20 games of the season.

Purcell has 13 points (7-6=13) in the last 10 games.

Center Gabe Gauthier (3-14=17) ranks second on the Monarchs in scoring with 17 points.

Gauthier is the leader on the squad with 14 assists.

Gauthier also ranks second on the Monarchs in the plus/minus category this season with a plus-4 rating.

Gauthier is ranked sixth on the Monarchs all-time assists list with 79 helpers over three seasons. He is also ranked 10 in goals scored with 40 and ranked ninth with 119 points.

Left wing Trevor Lewis (6-7=13) ranks third on the Monarchs after 20 games with six goals and seven assists for 13 points.

Left wing Matt Moulson has collected four goals and five assists for nine points in 12 games for fourth place on the Monarchs.

Moulson is ranked sixth in the Monarchs all-time record books for goals with 57 tallies. He has moved up to seventh all-time with 122 points over the last three seasons. Moulson is also tied for seventh place with an all-time plus/minus rating of plus-34.

Center Justin Azevedo made his professional debut against the Hamilton Bulldogs on Wednesday, November 19 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 on Friday, November 21. He has eight points (4-4=8) in eight games and scored two game-winning shootout tallies. He is also ranked fifth on the Monarchs squad.

Right wing David Meckler (4-4=8) is tied for fifth place with Azevedo, defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov (3-5=8), left wing Scott Parse (2-6=8) and center Marty Murray (1-7=8) on the Monarchs in scoring with eight points.

Voynov leads Monarchs blueliners with eight points (3-5=8). He is also tied with Gauthier for second place on the Monarchs in the plus/minus category with a plus-4 rating.

Left wing Vladimir Dravecky (1-6=7) leads the Monarchs with a plus/minus rating of plus-5.

Goaltender Jonathan Bernier collected his first professional shutout stopping all 27 shots in regulation and all five shootout snipers in Saturday, November 22's 1-0 shootout win over Lake Erie.

With Bernier's four wins in his last six games, he's moved to 19th place in that AHL with a 2.60 goals-against-average.

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

Goaltender Jonathan Quick (4-5-1) is on a three-game win streak.

MONARCHS TRANSACTIONS

11/30/08 - The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) loaned center Brian Boyle to the Manchester Monarchs (AHL).

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American Hockey League Stories from December 1, 2008


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