AHL Manchester Monarchs

Senators Hand Shorthanded Monarchs Third Straight Loss

Published on February 19, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


MANCHESTER, NH – Center Jason Spezza had one goal and assisted on four others as the Binghamton Senators handed the Manchester Monarchs their worst loss of the season, a 7-2 defeat before the 11th sellout crowd (9,916) of the season at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday night. The loss was the third straight for the Monarchs, who were playing with one less skater than normal after losing four players to injury on Friday night.

Despite the loss, the Monarchs remain in first place in the American Hockey League's Atlantic Division with a record of 35-12-3-3 and 76 points. The Monarchs enter Sunday's action against the Lowell Lock Monsters with a three-point lead over the Hartford Wolf Pack in the division. The Wolf Pack (35-16-1-2, 73 points), winners of three straight, beat the Springfield Falcons on Saturday night.

The win was the second in a row for the Senators, who lead the AHL's East Division with a record of 30-19-4-4 and 68 points.

The Senators opened the scoring with a goal from left wing Brandon Bochenski, rocketed home from the slot at the 3:57 mark of the first period. Spezza (24-55=79), the league's leading scorer, and left wing Denis Hamel assisted on the 23rd goal of the season for Bochenski, a rookie out of the University of North Dakota.

The Monarchs nearly tied the game midway through the period, but center Michael Cammalleri ripped a left circle shot off the cross bar.

The Senators took advantage of the break and doubled their lead at 11:52 of the period with the third goal of the season for Arpad Mihaly. The Mihaly goal was scored unassisted as the Romanian raced from one end of the rink to the other before slicing his shot past goalie Mathieu Garon (5 shots, 3 saves).

Monarchs head coach Bruce Boudreau replaced Garon with Adam Hauser (25 shots, 20 saves) after the Mihaly goal, and the Monarchs responded at 15:47 of the period with the 23rd goal of the season for left wing Dustin Brown. Defenseman Troy Milam and Cammalleri assisted on the goal, scored when Brown walked in from the left circle, faked, and then stuffed the puck into the right corner of the Binghamton net.

The Monarchs closed the period on the power play thanks to a major penalty for elbowing, assessed to defenseman Anton Volchenkov at 18:13. Volchenkov also picked up a game misconduct on the play, which resulted in an injury to Monarchs left wing Connor James, who did not return.

Much of the momentum generated by the ensuing power play evaporated, however, when defenseman Christoph Schubert scored shorthanded from his own zone with 19 seconds remaining in the period. Schubert, just looking to clear the puck and relieve pressure, sent the puck toward Hauser. The puck next seemed to skip on the ice before clearing the stick and glove of Hauser and sliding into the net. Right wings Josh Langfeld and Chris Kelly shared assists on Schubert's seventh goal of the season.

The Monarchs pulled to within one with the sixth goal of the season for left wing Jeff Giuliano, scored from the right side of the crease at 10:52. Giuliano took a corner feed from left wing Ryan Kinasewich and pushed the puck past goalie Billy Thompson (30 shots, 28 saves). Defenseman Tim Gleason had the second assist on the play.

But the third period belong to the Senators, who added goals from defenseman Neil Komadoski at 3:58, Bochenski at 6:30, Hamel on the power play at 8:00 and Spezza on the power play at 13:38. Spezza assisted on three of the four goals in the period.

Thompson improved his record to 14-7-1 on the season with 28 saves. Hauser (12-6-0) took the loss, his sixth of the season. He finished with 20 stops. Binghamton was 2-for-4 on the power play. Manchester was 0-for-5.

The Monarchs return to action when they travel to Lowell to meet the Lock Monsters at the Tsongas Arena on Sunday night at 4:05 p.m. The game against the Lock Monsters will be the first of four straight on the road for the Monarchs, who return to the Verizon Wireless Arena to host the Worcester IceCats on Tuesday, March 1 at 7:05 p.m.

Mullet Night – The Final Cut: The Manchester Monarchs will pay homage to "hockey hair" one last time when they host the Worcester IceCats at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Tuesday, March 1. On hand for this sad but historic event will be former Mullet Hall of Fame winners Barry Melrose, a former coach of the Kings and current ESPN personality, and The Hanson Brothers, immortalized as members of the Charlestown Chiefs in the classic hockey movie, "Slap Shot."

Tickets for Mullet Night - The Final Cut, sponsored by TRIMZ Family Haircut Center, 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.

The first 5,000 fans attending the Monarchs game against the IceCats on March 1 will receive free mullet wigs, courtesy of TRIMZ Family Haircut Center. For more information, contact the Monarchs at (603) 626-7825 or visit the Monarchs on-line at www.monarchshockey.com.

Ticket Availability: 150 seats in the Gold Level and 2,450 seats in the Silver level remain for Mullet Night – The Final Cut.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 19, 2005


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