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AHL Manchester Monarchs

Streak Finnished

March 16, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


WORCESTER, MA - The Manchester Monarchs ended their four-game winning streak with a 5-1 loss to the Worcester Sharks the DCU Center on Sunday afternoon.

Manchester (40-17-2-6) leads the Atlantic Division with 88 points. Worcester (30-27-3-1) sits in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 64 points.

"This afternoon was a rough outing for our team," said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris. "It's one we'd like to soon forget. Our energy level and focus slipped from the level we've grown accustomed to seeing. Worcester was the better team today. Plain and simple, we weren't sharp. It seemed like we were out of sync from the get-go. This is a good group and we'll rebound when we get a chance to recharge our batteries and get rested."

Rookie left wing Mike Pereira scored his first American Hockey League goal in his debut at 5:24 of the second stanza. Joining the Sharks following his senior season at University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Pereira carried the puck down the right wing of the Monarchs zone before cutting to the net. Pereira pulled the puck from his backhand to his forehand before roofing it over Monarchs netminder J.F. Berube to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead. Center Chad Rau and defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser assisted on the go-ahead goal.

On just their second shot of the game, the Monarchs took a 1-0 lead with center Andrew Crescenzi's first tally since joining Manchester from the Toronto Marlies on January 22. Crescenzi carried the puck down the right wing and dropped a short pass back to forward Ian O'Connor who was streaking in from the right point. O'Connor returned the pass to Crescenzi in the bottom of the right face-off circle. Crescenzi wristed the puck past netminder Harri Sateri at 16:26 of the first period. Defenseman Jeff Schultz assisted on Crescenzi's second goal of the season.

The Sharks tied the game at 1-1 with center Travis Oleksuk's 13th tally of the season at 3:17 of the middle frame. Skating on the power play, right wing Dan DaSilva sent the puck from the right corner of the Monarchs zone to Oleksuk at the left point. Oleksuk blasted a slap shot through traffic that beat Berube. Defenseman Kyle Bigos assisted on the tying goal.

At 7:10 of the middle period, right wing Daniil Tarasov picked up his 16th goal of the season. Oleksuk grabbed the puck and skated across the Monarchs blueline before finding Tarasov in the slot as he snuck behind Manchester's defense. Tarasov snapped a wrist shot top-shelf past Berube for a 3-1 advantage. Center Freddie Hamilton assisted on the goal.

Center Brock Higgs scored his third goal of the season as the Sharks took a 4-1 lead at 12:12 of the second period. Center Rylan Schwartz passed the puck from the right face-off circle to Higgs in the high slot for a one-timer that beat Berube. Abeltshauser earned his second assist of the night.

Netminder Mathias Niederberger replaced Berube between the pipes for Manchester following Higgs' goal.

The Sharks capitalized on another power play with Tarasov's second goal of the game and 17th tally of the season. Oleksuk passed the puck from the left point to Higgs in the right face-off circle. Higgs fired a wrist shot on Niederberger who made the pad save. Tarasov was on the left doorstep to chip in the rebound for a 5-1 advantage.

Berube (23-15-2) took his 15th loss of the season, stopping 11-of-15 shots in just over 32 minutes of play. Niederberger (1-1-1) stopped five-of-six shots in relief duty. Sateri (16-20-1) earned his 16th win of the season with 26 saves on 27 shots.

Manchester was 0-for-4 on the power play. Worcester went 2-for-4 with the man advantage.

Notables: Manchester's win streak ended at four games...The last time the Monarchs gave up five goals was in their 5-2 loss to the Albany Devils on January 11...Manchester has a 6-1-0-3 record against Worcester through 10 contests this season...Today's game is the first regulation loss the Monarchs have suffered against the Sharks this season...Center Andrew Crescenzi scored his first goal in a Monarchs uniform since joining the team on January 22.

The Monarchs travel to the MassMutual Center to take on the Springfield Falcons in a 7:00 p.m. contest on Saturday, March 22. Catch all of the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail on Monarchs Radio Network WGIR AM 610, WGIRAM.com, and at manchestermonarchs.com presented by Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.



American Hockey League Stories from March 16, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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