AHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Weekly

Published on April 7, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


A LOOK AHEAD (all times EASTERN)

Day Date Opponent (Time) Radio (Time)

Fri., 4/11 @ Providence (7:05 p.m.) WGIR-AM (6:35 p.m.)*

Sat., 4/12 PROVIDENCE (7:05 p.m.) WGIR-AM (6:35 p.m.)*

*Audio web casts of Monarchs games are also available at www.manchestermonarchs.com/multimedia and video web casts are available 10 minutes prior to every Monarchs game by clicking on the B2 networks icon at www.manchestermonarchs.com.

A LOOK BACK

Day Date Opponent Result Monarchs Goals Monarchs Goalie (Saves/Shots)

Wed., 4/2 BRIDGEPORT 5-1 W Boyle, Cliche, Kidd, Murray, Quick (29/30)

Westgarth

Fri., 4/4 @ Lowell 7-3 W Boyle (2), Lewis, Milam, Quick (32/35)

Murray, Purcell, Tukonen

Sat., 4/5 WORCESTER 4-1 W Meckler, Murray, Purcell (2) Bernier (27/28)

Sun., 4/6 @ Providence 3-2 SOL Moulson, Zeiler Bernier (34/36)

MONARCHS STATISTICAL LEADERS

This Season This Week

Points Purcell - 83 Moulson, Purcell - 6

Goals Boyle - 31 Murray, Purcell - 3

Assists Purcell - 58 Moulson - 5

Power Play 87 of 355, 24.5% 6 of 16, 37.5%

Penalty Killing 311 of 393, 79.1% 17 of 20, 85.0%

GOALIES Games Played W-L-SOL GAA SV%

XJ-S Aubin 1 0-0-0 27.69 0.429

Jonathan Bernier 2 1-0-1 1.44 0.953

XDan Cloutier 14 4-9-0 3.50 0.869

XCurtis Darling 2 0-0-0 0.00 1.000

XErik Ersberg 30 10-13-2 2.92 0.897

Jonathan Quick 18 10-8-0 2.46 0.918

XDaniel Taylor 23 13-5-2 2.40 0.921

LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

Vs. Bridgeport (4/2): Right wing Kevin Westgarth got the nod for the game-winning goal as the Manchester Monarchs knocked out the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in a 5-1 victory on Wednesday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena. Rookies center Brady Murray, defenseman Josh Kidd, center Brian Boyle and center Marc-Andre Cliche scored for the Monarchs in addition to Westgarth. Former Monarchs left wing Jeff Tambellini tallied the lone goal for the Sound Tigers. Monarchs goaltender Jonathan Quick recorded his ninth win by stopping 29-of-30 shots. Sound Tigers netminder Mike Morrison made 30 saves in the loss. Manchester went 0-for-3 on the power play. Bridgeport was 0-for-4 with the man advantage.

At Lowell (4/4): Four power play goals elevated the Manchester Monarchs to their seventh win in eight games with a 7-3 victory over the Lowell Devils at the Tsongas Arena on Friday night. The Monarchs scored a plethora of goals from center Brian Boyle (2), center Trevor Lewis, defenseman Troy Milam, center Brady Murray, right wing Teddy Purcell and right wing Lauri Tukonen. Lowell found the back of the net with tallies from center Ivan Khomutov, center Tyler Burton and center Petr Vrana. Monarchs goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped 32 shots for the win. Devils netminder David Caruso took the loss with 28 saves. Manchester went 4-for-4 on the power play. Lowell was 2-for-5 with the man advantage.

Vs. Worcester (4/5): Right wing Teddy Purcell notched two goals and goaltender Jonathan Bernier earned his first win as the Manchester Monarchs beat the Worcester Sharks at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday night. Rookie centers David Meckler and Brady Murray added insurance goals for the Monarchs. Left wing Lukas Kaspar was the lone goal scorer for Worcester. Bernier stopped 27 shots for his first win. Sharks netminder Dimitri Patzold took the loss with 17 saves. Manchester went 1-for-3 on the power play. Worcester was 0-for-5 with man advantage.

LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS (CONTINUED)

At Providence (4/6): Goaltender Jonathan Bernier stopped 34 shots in regulation and three shootout snipers as the Manchester Monarchs fell to the Providence Bruins 3-2 in a shootout at the Dunkin' Donuts Center on Sunday evening. Left wing Matt Moulson and right wing John Zeiler scored in regulation for the Monarchs. Providence collected goals from right wing Jordan Knackstedt and left wing Pascal Pelletier. Knackstedt and center Nate Thompson scored in the shootout for the Bruins victory. Netminder Adam Courchaine made 21 saves in regulation and stopped all four Monarchs in the shootout for Providence. Manchester and Providence both went 1-for-6 with the man advantage.

MONARCHS NEWS & NOTES

The Monarchs (38-30-5-5, 86 points) have won eight out of their last 10 games to move eight points ahead of the Springfield Falcons (34-33-5-5, 78 points) for fourth and final playoff position in the Atlantic Division. Manchester clinched their seventh consecutive playoff berth in the Calder Cup playoffs with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Providence Bruins on Sunday. Manchester will face the Bruins in their final two regular season games this week and then again in the 2008 Calder Cup Atlantic Division Semi-Finals starting at the Dunkin' Donuts Center on Wednesday, April 16.

Round 1 Dates And Times

Date Location Time

Game 1 Wednesday, April 16 @ Providence 7:05 p.m.

Game 2 Friday, April 18 @ Providence 7:05 p.m.

Game 3 Saturday, April 19 @ MANCHESTER 7:05 p.m.

Game 4 Monday, April 21 @ MANCHESTER 7:05 p.m.

Game 5 Friday, April 25 @ Providence 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)

Game 6 Saturday, April 26 @ Providence 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)

Game 7 Monday, April 28 @ MANCHESTER 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)

Manchester has won eight of their last 10 games (8-1-0-1) and 13 of their last 20 games (13-5-1-1).

The Monarchs have a home record of 18-16-2-3 and a road record of 20-14-3-2.

The Monarchs power play remains atop the AHL with a 24.5-percentage and the penalty kill is in 27th place with 79.1-percent.

Manchester set a new record for the most power play goals against in a season with 82 tallies for the opponent when they have the man advantage.

The Monarchs set a new franchise record for the most power play goals scored in a season with 87 goals with the man advantage.

The Monarchs have the best home power play record as they have scored 45 goals on 179 opportunities at the Verizon Wireless Arena. They are also ranked first on the road with a power play record of 42 goals on 176 opportunities.

Manchester has scored at least one power play goal in 26 of their 38 wins this season.

38 of the 78 Monarchs games thus far this season have been determined by one goal. The Monarchs are 16-12-5-5 in one goal games, 8-8-0-0 in two goal games, 4-7-0-0 in three goal games and 10-3-0-0 in four goal games.

Manchester is 23-4-2-1 when leading after the first period and 26-2-1-1 when leading after the second period.

When scoring first in the game, the Monarchs are 29-7-3-2.

The best day of the week for the Monarchs to play is on Saturday. The team is 14-9-2-2 in 27 Saturday games this season. Manchester is 7-3-1-1 in Sunday games, 2-1-0-0 on Mondays and 1-1-0-0 on Tuesday. On Wednesdays, the Monarchs have a record of 4-6-0-0. In the lone Thursday game this season, the Monarchs lost in overtime. Manchester is 10-10-1-2 on Fridays thus far this season.

The Monarchs are 5-5 in shootouts this season.

Right wing Teddy Purcell (25-58=83) leads the Monarchs with 83 points in 67 games. Last week, Purcell was named the AHL's Rookie of the Year, a member of the AHL's All-Rookie Team and an AHL First All-Star Team for the 2007-08 season.

MONARCHS NEWS & NOTES (CONTINUED)

The rookie 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 also 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 51-of-67 games with the Monarchs this season.

Purcell's 83 points are ranked third in the AHL for overall scoring and is ranked first among rookies.

His 58 assists are ranked fourth in the AHL in that category and also rank first among rookies.

Purcell's 36 assists on the power play place him for second place in the AHL and ranks first among AHL rookies.

The rookie right wing has 17 points (7-10=17) in his last 11 games.

Center Brian Boyle is ranked second on the Monarchs squad this season and ranked second among AHL rookies with 62 points (31-31=62). 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 first among AHL rookies with 236 shots on goal this season.

Boyle's 16 power play goals are tied for third overall in the AHL and ranked first among rookies.

Boyle's 31 goals lead AHL rookies.

The rookie center's six game winning goals also lead AHL rookies.

Center Gabe Gauthier (23-37=60) is ranked third on the Monarchs squad with 60 points in 61 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 37 assists are ranked second on the Monarchs squad.

Gauthier has scored at least one point in 39-of-61 games this season.

22 of Gauthier's 37 assists this season have come on the power play, which ties him for 12th place in the AHL for power play assists.

Gauthier's 15 power play goals are ranked fifth in the AHL among power play tallies.

Left wing Matt Moulson is fourth on the Monarchs squad with 56 points (28-28=56) in 57 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.

Defenseman Peter Harrold leads Monarchs blueliners, is ranked fifth on the team and is tied for ninth 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 recorded five points (2-3=5) and a plus-3 in 25 games with the Kings this season.

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

Center Brady Murray has collected seven goals in his last eight games, including the game-winning goals in Saturday's 7-3 win over the Devils and Wednesday, March 26's 2-0 victory over the Portland Pirates.

Since returning from a foot injury, center Marc-Andre Cliche has recorded 16 points (7-9=16) in 23 games.

-More-

MONARCHS NEWS & NOTES (CONTINUED)

Defenseman Jeff Likens ended an eight game point (1-7=8) streak and a seven game assist (0-7=7) streak when he was held scoreless in Sunday's 3-2 shootout loss to the Bruins.

Right wing Kevin Westgarth is tied for 20th in the AHL in penalty minutes with 191 in 67 games. Westgarth is also ranked third among rookies in penalty minutes. He has 25 major penalties that also tied for first among rookies.

Left wing Paul Crosty is tied for 13th in the AHL with 198 penalty minutes in 48 games.

In 30 games between the pipes for Manchester, 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 collected his first win and shutout in the Kings 2-0 win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, March 6. The rookie goaltender stopped 40 shots from the Senators through 60 minutes of play for the victory. Ersberg has played in 14 games with the Kings this season and collected a record of 6-5-3, two shutouts, a 2.48 goals-against-average and a .927 save-percentage.

Netminder Daniel Taylor has played in 23 games this season and registered a record of 13-5-2, four shutouts, a 2.40 goals-against-average and a .921 save-percentage.

The rookie goaltender made his NHL debut with the Kings on Saturday, March 29 when he replaced Ersberg between the pipes for the third period against the Dallas Stars. Taylor stopped 8-of-10 shots in the game. Taylor is the seventh goaltender to play in a Kings uniform this season. He follows Jason LaBarbera, Dan Cloutier, Jean-Sebastien Aubin, Jonathan Quick, Jonathan Bernier and Ersberg.

Taylor earned his first professional shutout with the Monarchs 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.

Quick was recalled by the Monarchs on February 27 from the ECHL's Reading Royals. In 18 games with the Monarchs, Quick has a record of 10-8-0, two shutouts, a 2.46 goals-against-average and a .918 save-percentage.

Quick made his NHL debut with the Kings on December 6 and registered his first win, an 8-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. In three games with Los Angeles, Quick has a record of 1-2-0, a 3.83 goals-against-average and a .855 save-percentage.

Goaltender Jonathan Bernier joined the Monarchs on Friday, April 4 and served as Quick's back-up. Bernier played in two games over the weekend collecting a 1-0-1 record, a 1.44 goals-against-average and a .953 save-percentage. He has stopped 61-of-64 shots that have come his way.

Bernier began the season with the Kings and registered a 1-3-0 record, a 4.03 goals-against-average and a .864 save-percentage in four games. He returned to the QMJHL's Lewiston MAINEiacs and collected a 18-12-3 record, a 2.73 goals-against-average and a .908 save-percentage in 48 games.

MONARCHS TRANSACTIONS

4-6-08 - The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) assigned defenseman Peter Harrold to the Manchester Monarchs (AHL).

4-4-08 - The Manchester Monarchs (AHL) released goaltender Curtis Darling from his professional tryout agreement.

4-3-08 - The Manchester Monarchs (AHL) signed defenseman Davis Drewiske to an amateur tryout agreement.

4-3-08 - The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) assigned goaltender Jonathan Bernier to the Manchester Monarchs (AHL).

3-29-08 - The Los Angeles Kings (NHL) assigned right wing John Zeiler to the Manchester Monarchs (AHL).

3-29-08 - The Manchester Monarchs (AHL) assigned defenseman P.J. Atherton to the Reading Royals (ECHL).

MONARCHS INJURY REPORT

Center Brian Boyle is week-to-week with a lower body injury.

Center Gabe Gauthier is week-to-week with a lower body injury.

Center Matt Ryan is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

MONARCHS PROMOTIONS

Fan Appreciation Night - The Monarchs will give away an iPod Nano, Sony PSP, Garmin GPS system, Canobie Lake day passes and much more as part of Fan Appreciation Night on Saturday, April 12 when Manchester hosts the Providence Bruins in the final regular season game! The first 2,500 fans will receive Monarchs tumbler cups, courtesy of Delta Dental! Fans also have the opportunity to win the Shirt Off Our Back! For $1, fans can purchase a raffle ticket to win their favorite player's game worn jersey with proceeds benefiting the Special Olympics and the Monarchs Care Foundation.

Put Hunger On Ice Food Drive - The Monarchs are teaming up with the NH Food Bank to host a food drive on Saturday, April 12 when Manchester hosts Providence at 7:05 p.m. Urgently needed items include tuna fish, peanut butter, canned fruit and vegetables, soup, cereal, pasta and rice. Help the Monarchs Put Hunger On Ice!

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American Hockey League Stories from April 7, 2008


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