Prior to Sunday’s regular season finale at home, the Manchester Monarchs handed out their End of Year Awards and several of the Kings’ top prospects came away with honors…
– Ace Bailey Most Valuable Player Award (voted by Monarchs players and coaches): Linden Vey
– Mark Bavis Unsung Hero Award (voted by Monarchs players): Andy Andreoff
– Monarchs Community Service Award (voted by Monarchs Care Foundation): Andrew Campbell
– Union Leader Fan Favorite Award (voted by the fans): Brandon Kozun
– Manchester Monarchs Booster Club Player of the Year Award (voted by the Monarchs Booster Club): Linden Vey
To see where Kozun and Vey were slotted in the latest edition of the Kings Top 10 Prospect Rankings, click here.
Now on to the game action from Sunday…
Game report provided by the Monarchs, LA Kings’ AHL affiliate…
MANCHESTER, NH – The Manchester Monarchs improved their winning streak to four games with a 3-0 victory over the Worcester Sharks at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Manchester (34-31-3-4) is in third place in the Atlantic Division with 75 points. Worcester (30-32-4-6) is in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 70 points.
“It was another good win for us,” said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris. “Martin Jones was stellar in net again. It was a gutsy win and I was happy with the way we played. Credit goes to our guys for sticking with it and earning a big victory.”
Right wing Brandon Kozun opened the scoring for the Monarchs with a goal at 9:05 of the third period. Defenseman Chris Huxley played the puck from the left point to the right point for defenseman Vincent LoVerde, who fired a slap shot on net. The shot was denied by Sharks goaltender Alex Stalock producing a rebound in front of the net. Kozun grabbed the rebound on his forehand and shot it behind Stalock and into the open net for his 26th tally of the season the eventual game-winning goal.
The Monarchs added to their lead with a shorthanded goal by center Linden Vey at 17:56 of the third period. Left wing Tanner Pearson stole puck from a Worcester defenseman in the Monarchs zone and skated up the left wing on a two-on-one with Vey. Pearson continued skating to the left doorstep before passing the puck back for Vey in the slot. Vey tipped the puck into an open goal. Defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk also tallied an assist on Vey’s 21st goal of the season.
Left wing Marc-Andre Cliche finished the games scoring with a shorthanded, empty net goal at 19:07 of the final period. Bodnarchuk chipped the puck out of the Monarchs zone. Cliche tracked down the loose puck in the neutral zone in front of the penalty boxes. Cliche pivoted and wristed a long range wrist shot for his 10th goal of the season.
Monarchs goaltender Martin Jones (25-25-4) earned fifth shutout of the season and his 25th victory of the season stopping all 32 shots faced. Stalock (16-16-3) took his 16th loss of the season making 24 saves on 26 shots.
Manchester went 0-for-2 on the power play. Worcester was 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
Notables: The Monarchs went 3-0-0-0 in three games this weekend and improved their winning streak to four games…Manchester sits tied for ninth place in the Eastern Conference and are just two points out of a playoff position…Monarchs goaltender Martin Jones won his fourth straight start in net.
The Monarchs will conclude the AHL regular season with a three-game road trip that begins Friday in Binghamton.
RELATED CONTENT: LA Kings 2013 Prospect Rankings
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Since the Monarchs won their last 3 games of the season, are they in the playoffs or does it depend on if anyone else above them wins/loses?
Nice to see Jones get the shutout, though.
Sorry, didn’t read the game recap thoroughly. Let me edit that question. Since they are only 2 points out of the playoffs as of tonight, do they need to win their next 3 games in order to make the playoffs?