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AHL Manchester Monarchs

Worcester Knocks off Monarchs, 5-2

April 5, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


WORCESTER, Massachusetts – Jeff Panzer's second game-winning goal in a span of five days powered the streaking Worcester IceCats past the Manchester Monarchs, 5-2, at the Worcester Centrum Centre on Friday night. Panzer's game-winner, his fourth goal in his last two games against the Monarchs, was scored short-handed with 17:17 remaining in the third period. Panzer recorded three goals on Sunday as the IceCats rallied from five goals down in the third period to beat the Monarchs, 7-6, in overtime at the Centrum. The win was the third straight for the IceCats, who hold down the sixth seed in the conference with two games remaining on the regular season schedule.

The Monarchs loss, coupled with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers home ice victory over the Albany River Rats on Friday night, means the Monarchs still need a win or a tie against the Providence Bruins on Saturday, or a Bridgeport loss or tie against the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday, to clinch fourth place in the Eastern Conference and home ice advantage in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

John Pohl bagged the 24th goal of his rookie season just 28 seconds into the opening period to give the IceCats their first lead. Jason Dawe and defenseman Tom Koivisto earned assists on the play. Goaltender Jeff Sanger, anticipating Dawe's wrap-around shot, got a piece of the puck as it slid through the crease. But he wasn't able to prevent Pohl from scoring on the rebound.

The second period was a special one for Noah Clarke, who collected a pair of points as the Monarchs twice battled back to tie the game. Clarke, a ninth round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 1999, scored his first professional goal at 8:38 with fellow rookie Leon Hayward and Brandon Dietrich assisting to make it a 1-1 score. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Clarke, who signed with the Monarchs and agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the Kings on Thursday, rammed his left circle shot past goaltender Curtis Sanford. Sanford earlier in the period had replaced starter Reinhard Divis, who left the game with an apparent ankle injury and did not return.

Sanger faced only seven shots in the middle period, but all seven were high quality attempts, including Greg Day's breakaway backhander that slid into the Monarchs net at 12:15 to give the IceCats the 2-1 lead. Minutes before Sanger, making his third AHL start, had stopped Erik Nickulas' breakaway backhander. Panzer's right circle blast following a turnover in the Monarchs zone also served as a challenging stop for Sanger in the first few minutes of the period.

Clarke's nifty drop pass at the IceCats blue line led to the Monarchs second goal. Dane Jackson, reading the play, scooped up the pass and quickly dished to Jared Aulin. Aulin next powered his way into the slot, avoided a checker, and snapped off a hard wrist shot that found a home just underneath the crossbar at 17:10. Aulin's 12th goal this season tied the game at 2-2.

Panzer's short-handed goal, followed by Chris Corrinet's backhander from the right circle at 5:49 and Pohl's empty netter from the red line with 35 seconds left, completed the scoring for the IceCats, who beat the Monarchs for the fourth consecutive time.

The Monarchs and the IceCats split the season series, with the Monarchs piecing together a 3-3-1-1 record in the eight head-to-head match-ups.

Notes: The Manchester Monarchs on Friday signed goaltender Rick Laurendeau to an amateur tryout agreement under emergency conditions. Laurendeau, a 5-foot-9, 175-pound native of Manchester, New Hampshire, served as the Monarchs backup goaltender against the IcCats. The Monarchs called upon Laurendeau for help after leaving goaltender Travis Scott home to battle a case of strep throat. Laurendeau, the 47th player to suit up for the Monarchs this season, wore wear jersey #45. Dane Jackson registered an assist after missing 16 consecutive games with an injury. Eric Healey's seven-game point streak ended against the IceCats. Healey had five goals and 11 points during the streak.

With two regular season games remaining, the Monarchs (39-23-10-6, 94 points) need just one more win or tie or one more Bridgeport Sound Tigers loss or tie to lock up fourth place in the Eastern Conference and home ice advantage in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. If the Monarchs do finish fourth, they will begin a best-of-five first round playoff series on Saturday, April 12 at the Verizon Wireless Arena starting at 7:35 p.m. In the same playoff scenario, the Monarchs will also host the fifth seed on Sunday, April 13th at 4:05 p.m., before playing at the fifth seed's home site on Friday, April 18 and Saturday, April 19th if necessary. If a fifth game is necessary, it will be played at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Tuesday, April 22nd at 7:05 p.m. Which team the Monarchs could face in the first round remains unclear, as Bridgeport, Binghamton, Worcester and Hartford all could still finish as high as fifth in the conference.

Manchester Monarchs playoff tickets for the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs go on sale to the general public on Monday, April 7 at 10:00 a.m. Tickets to all Monarchs playoff games can be purchased at the Verizon Wireless Arena Box Office and at all Ticketmaster locations including Filene's at the Mall of New Hampshire, by calling (603) 868-7300, or by visiting Ticketmaster on-line at ticketmaster.com.

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