AHL Manchester Monarchs

Staal Scores Twice As Lowell Edges Manchester

Published on February 18, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


MANCHESTER, NH – A shorthanded goal from center Eric Staal with 4:09 remaining in the game gave the Lowell Lock Monsters a 3-2 win over the Manchester Monarchs before a sellout crowd of 9,916 at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday night. With the win, the third place Lock Monsters (30-15-1-4, 65 points) pulled to within 11 points of the Monarchs (35-11-3-3, 76 points), leaders of the American Hockey League's Atlantic Division. The win was the Lock Monsters sixth straight in head-to-head competition with the Monarchs this season.

The Monarchs enter Saturday action against the Binghamton Senators with a five-point lead in the division over the second place Hartford Wolf Pack (34-16-1-2, 71 points), which beat the Worcester IceCats on Friday night.

Staal's game-winner came during one of 11 Monarchs power play chances on the night. Both Manchester goals were scored with the Monarchs holding a man-advantage.

In addition to the power play chances, the Monarchs also had a chance to win the game in the final minute of regulation play when center Michael Cammalleri was awarded a penalty shot. Cammalleri, however, was unable to beat Lowell goaltender Cam Ward with 38 seconds remaining on the clock.

The Lock Monsters lit the lamp first, with defenseman Mike Commodore one-timing a behind the net feed from Staal into the top corner of the Monarchs net at 9:16 of the opening period. Left wing Ryan Bayda also registered an assist on the power play goal, the fourth goal overall for Commodore this season.

The Monarchs countered with a power play goal of their own at 15:05 of the period as left wing Noah Clarke stuffed a rebound into the Lowell net after Ward (36 shots, 34 saves) got a piece of a defenseman Jason Holland's right circle wrist shot. Cammalleri had the second assist on Clarke's 17th goal of the season.

Lowell regained the lead with Staal's first goal of the night, hammered home from the slot just 2:07 into the second period. Right wing Chuck Kobasew and defenseman Brennan Evans each assisted on the goal.

The Monarchs next tied the game just 1:04 later when Cammalleri registered his league-leading 31st goal of the season. Holland and defenseman Denis Grebeshkov shared assists on Cammalleri's league-leading 15th power play goal of the season.

Monarchs goalie Mathieu Garon finished with 18 saves in the loss. His record dropped to 23-9-3 on the season. With the win, Ward improved his record to 17-9-2.

The Monarchs return to action on Saturday night when they host the Senators, the top affiliate of the Ottawa Senators, at 7:35 p.m. After that they hit the road to square off with the Lock Monsters at the Tsongas Arena on Sunday night at 4:05 p.m.

Ticket Availability: 50 seats (singles) in the Gold Level and 340 seats in the Silver level remain for Saturday's game against the Senators.

Fans in need of Monarchs tickets may purchase them in person at the Verizon Wireless Arena box office, at any TicketMaster location, by phone at (603) 868-7300 or on-line at www.ticketmaster.com. The box office opens at 10:00 a.m.

Catch all of the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail on the Monarchs Radio Network (WGIR-AM 610, Manchester; WGIN-AM 930, Rochester; WGIP-AM 1540, Exeter; WTSL-AM 1400, Lebanon) and at www.monarchshockey.com.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 18, 2005


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