Monarchs Win Franchise Record 41st Game
March 13, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release
LOWELL, MA â Goaltender Adam Hauser finished with 43 saves and his 16th win as the Manchester Monarchs skated past the Lowell Lock Monsters, 4-2, before 5,290 fans at the Tsongas Arena on Sunday night.
Hauser collected 19 of his saves in the third period, helping the Monarchs set a new franchise record for wins in a season. With a record of 41-17-3-3 and 88 points, the Monarchs also moved back into first place in the American Hockey League's Atlantic Division. The Monarchs lead the Hartford Wolf Pack (41-21-2-2, 86 points) by two points in the standings and also have two games in hand.
With the loss, the third place Lock Monsters saw their record drop to 36-20-1-5 on the season. They have 78 points.
The Monarchs opened a 2-0 first period lead with goals from right wing Brad Smyth and center Jeff Miles.
Smyth, celebrating his 32nd birthday, sliced his 16th of the season inside the right pad of Lowell netminder Cam Ward (40 shots, 36 saves) at 1:59. Defenseman Denis Grebeshkov and right wing Tom Kostopoulos assisted on the power play goal.
Grebeshkov also had a hand in the second goal of the period, recorded by Miles at 16:50. Miles scored his fourth of the season with a well-placed wrist shot from the left circle. A cross-ice pass from right wing Dan Welch set up the play.
Hauser (45 shots, 43 saves) held the Lock Monsters off the scoreboard in the period with several quality saves. His best save came when he stopped a point-blank shot from right wing Chad Larose with four minutes remaining. Hauser also had a little luck on his side as left wing Ryan Bayda's bid from the left circle clipped the far post with less than a minute off the clock.
Hauser's luck continued into the second period when defenseman Mike Commodore rang his blue line slap shot off the far post 1:30 into the stanza.
The Monarchs withstood three Lowell power play chances in the period, and then increased their lead to 3-0 with the 40 th goal of the season for center Michael Cammalleri. Kostopoulos and defenseman Tim Gleason shared assists as Cammalleri fired the puck through the pads of Ward from 15-feet away.
With the goal, Cammalleri established a new franchise record for points in a season. The third-year pro has eight goals in his last six games and 89 points (40-49=89) on the season.
The Monarchs moved four goals in front of the Lock Monsters at the 5:47 mark of the third period. Center David Steckel hammered home his seventh of the season after receiving a pass from right wing George Parros in front of the Lowell net. Defenseman Mike Weaver also assisted on the play.
Larose spoiled Hauser's shutout bid with his 17th goal of the season, scored on the power play at 7:49. Center Eric Staal and left wing Dustin Johner assisted on the team-leading 10th power play goal of the season for Larose.
Larose also had the primary assist on the next goal, scored by Staal to make it a two-goal game. Staal tipped his 19th of the season past Hauser at 10:48. Left wing Colin Forbes also collected an assist on the goal.
Hauser stopped everything else fired his way to lead the Monarchs to a second straight win over the Lock Monsters.
Ten games into the season series, the Monarchs have a record of 4-6-0-0 against the Lock Monsters.
With the win, Hauser improved to 16-9-0 on the season and 2-1-0 against Lowell. With the loss, Ward's record dropped to 22-11-3 and 4-1-2 against the Monarchs.
The Monarchs return to home ice action when they host Hartford at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday, March 18 at 7:35 p.m.
Ticket Availability: Single seats in the Gold level and 1,600 seats in the Silver level remain for Friday's game against the Wolf Pack.
Monarchs tickets are on sale now and may be purchased at the Verizon Wireless Arena box office. Individual tickets may also be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at (603) 868-7300, or by visiting Ticketmaster on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.
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