Toivonen Holds Off Monarchs; B\'s Win In A Shootout
April 1, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release
MANCHESTER, NH â Goaltender Hannu Toivonen had 43 saves through regulation and overtime play and another four stops in the shootout to lead the Providence Bruins over the Manchester Monarchs, 3-2, before a crowd of 9,611 at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday night. With the win, their fourth straight, the Bruins (36-26-3-7, 82 points) moved five points in front of the Worcester IceCats (35-29-4-3, 77 points) in the race for the fourth and final playoff spot in the American Hockey League's Atlantic Division.
Meanwhile, with their shootout point, the first place Monarchs (45-18-4-4, 98 points) set a franchise record for points in a season. With 98 points, they improved upon the 97 points earned in the 2002-03 season. The Monarchs enter Saturday night's game against the Springfield Falcons with a four-point lead over the second place Hartford Wolf Pack (44-21-3-3, 94 points) in the race for the division title. Both teams have nine games remaining on their schedules.
Toivonen's 17 combined saves in the third period and in the overtime session set the table for his victory in the shootout. The second-year pro has four wins in five starts since returning from a knee injury on March 20. The 20-year-old missed a month of action because of surgery.
Right wing Brad Smyth was the only Monarchs player to beat Toivonen (25-15-3) in the shootout. Left wing Andy Hilbert and center Patrice Bergeron recorded shootout goals against Monarchs netminder Mathieu Garon, who saw his record drop to 28-12-4 despite 25 saves through regulation and overtime play.
The second period featured each of the four regulation goals. The Monarchs opened the scoring with the 18th goal of the season for Smyth, who redirected a blue line wrist shot triggered by defenseman Tim Gleason past Tiovonen at 4:11. Left wing Petr Kanko also assisted on the play.
The Monarchs doubled their lead 1:14 later with center Michael Cammalleri's league-leading 42nd goal, scored on a one-timer from the slot. Left wing Dustin Brown and defenseman Doug Nolan each collected assists as Cammalleri tied Monarchs team records for goals in a season (42) and career goals (67).
The Bruins made it a 2-1 game with a goal from center Ben Guite at 11:49. Guite took a rebound and flipped his seventh of the season into the Monarchs net a split second after Garon stopped a backhanded attempt from left wing Jay Henderson. A Monarchs turnover led to the scoring play.
The Bruins tied the game 4:26 later with the league-leading 19th power play goal of the season for center Brad Boyes, who slipped the puck inside the left post and underneath Garon's glove. Center Keith Aucoin and Bergeron each collected assists on his 32nd overall goal. The Bruins had a two-man advantage at the time.
The Bruins entered Friday's game with four straight regulation losses at the Verizon Wireless Arena. With one game remaining in the season series, the Monarchs hold a 6-2-0-1 advantage over the Bruins in head-to-head action this season.
The Monarchs, with just one regulation loss in their last nine games (6-1-1-1), return to action when they host the Falcons at 7:35 p.m. at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday night.
Ticket Availability: Single seats in the Gold level and 300 seats in the Silver level remain for Saturday's game against the Falcons.
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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American Hockey League Stories from April 1, 2005
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