By Brian Ring
Manchester, NH, February 11, 2012 – The Connecticut Whale defeated the Manchester Monarchs, 4-1, Saturday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester. Jonathan Audy-Marchessault and Casey Wellman both scored and added an assist for the Whale, who won their fifth straight game.
The Whale scored three times in a key second period burst to power their victory over the Monarchs, improving to 2-0-0-0 against Manchester this season. The five straight wins matches a season high for Connecticut.
“We had a good start again tonight, we did a lot of things right,” said Whale head coach Ken Gernander. “I thought it was a solid effort throughout, five-on-five, special teams, goaltending. I thought there were a lot of good things.”
Neither team would score in the first period, but the Whale heavily outshot their opponents in the opening frame for the second straight night, totaling 17 shots to Manchester’s eight. Chad Johnson (26 saves) was especially good early on for the Whale, making a number of point-blank saves on Monarchs opportunities.
The Whale, however, would explode for three goals in the second period in the span of just 1:31.
Wellman would strike first as the beneficiary of hard corner work by Audy-Marchessault, as Audy-Marchessault dug the puck out and passed to Wellman as he sprinted into the slot. Wellman’s shot beat Manchester goaltender Martin Jones (36 saves) for his 15th goal of the season, his first as a member of the Whale, and a 1-0 Connecticut lead at 12:01. Tim Erixon picked up the secondary assist on Audy-Marchessault’s 18th goal.
Wellman would return the favor with a great pass to Audy-Marchessault just nine seconds later, as Audy-Marchessault put the Whale up 2-0. Audy-Marchessault sent a rocket of a one-timer past Jones from the left faceoff circle, the two goals coming just one second shy of the franchise record for fastest consecutive goals. Andre Deveaux would also assist on the score.
The Whale would increase their lead to 3-0 on the power-play, as Wojtek Wolski set up Kris Newbury’s 18th goal of the season with a backhand pass. Newbury found just enough room to stuff the puck between the pad of Jones and the post at 13:32. Mats Zuccarello recorded the secondary assist.
Robert Czarnik would cut the Whale lead to 3-1 with Manchester’s first and only tally of the night at the 1:45 mark of the third period, as his shot managed to sneak past a screened Johnson, with the assists going to Thomas Hickey and Nick Deslauriers.
Andreas Thuresson would regain the Whale’s three-goal advantage just 31 seconds later, as he tipped an Erixon shot past Jones for a 4-1 lead and the final score of the night. Kelsey Tessier also notched a helper on the goal.
The Whale will finish their three-game road trip Sunday afternoon in Bridgeport, as they take on the Sound Tigers in GEICO Connecticut Cup action (3:00). The next home game for the Whale will be Friday, Jan. 17, when they host the Springfield Falcons at the XL Center (7:00).
Tickets to all 2011-12 Whale home games, are on sale now at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, as well as on-line at www.ctwhale.com and through TicketMaster Charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000.
The Whale and the CT Hockey Hall of Fame will partner to hold a CT Hockey Hall of Fame night at the Whale’s home game at the XL Center Saturday, March 10 vs. the Norfolk Admirals. That night will mark the enshrinement of a new class of 2012 inductees into the CT Hockey Hall of Fame, which has adopted eight members from the storied Hartford Whalers Hall of Fame. The new inductees are: Connecticut-bred Hockey Hall of Famer Brian Leetch, ex-Hartford Whalers 56-goal scorer Blaine Stoughton, former Whalers goaltender Mike Liut, former Whalers captain Pat Verbeek, Connecticut Whale/Hartford Wolf Pack franchise icon, long-time captain and current head coach Ken Gernander, three-time Olympic medalist for Team USA and all-time NCAA women’s leading scorer Julie Chu, and one of the founders of the New England Whalers, William E. Barnes. There will be an induction ceremony before the game, which faces off at 7:00 PM on March 10, and the new inductees will also be recognized on the ice during the first intermission. Fans can take home a special souvenir of the March 10 night, as 5,000 Hall of Fame posters will be given away, courtesy of SuperCuts. There will also be a special meet-and-greet event on March 10, details of which will be announced soon. This will be the first class of inductees since 1990, and further details are available at cthockeyHOF.org.
College students can get discounted tickets to Whale weekday games with the Whale’s “Ditch the Dorms” deal. For Monday through Friday home games, students who show a valid student ID at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center can get $2 off Upper Level tickets and $5 off Lower Level seats.
Save on your tickets, and get the best seats, with a ticket plan for the Whale’s 2011-12 AHL campaign, which are on sale now. For information on season seats, mini plans and great group discounts, visit www.ctwhale.com, or call the CT Whale ticket office at (860) 728-3366 to talk with an account executive today.
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Connecticut Whale 4 at Manchester Monarchs 1
Saturday, February 11, 2012 – Verizon Wireless Arena
Connecticut 0 3 1 – 4
Manchester 0 0 1 – 1
1st Period- No Scoring. Penalties-No Penalties
2nd Period-1, Connecticut, Wellman 15 (Audy-Marchessault, Erixon), 12:01. 2, Connecticut, Audy-Marchessault 18 (Wellman, Deveaux), 12:10. 3, Connecticut, Newbury 18 (Wolski, Zuccarello), 13:32 (PP). Penalties-Zuccarello Ct (interference), 3:09; Woywitka Ct (hooking), 9:25; Azevedo Mch (holding), 12:42.
3rd Period-4, Manchester, Czarnik 6 (Hickey, Deslauriers), 1:45. 5, Connecticut, Thuresson 10 (Erixon, Tessier), 2:16. Penalties-Clune Mch (unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:08; Woywitka Ct (roughing), 8:32; Clune Mch (fighting, misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:32; Bell Ct (tripping), 16:08; Deveaux Ct (holding), 19:35.
Shots on Goal-Connecticut 17-10-13-40. Manchester 8-12-7-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Connecticut 1 / 3; Manchester 0 / 4.
Goalies-Connecticut, Johnson 15-9-5 (27 shots-26 saves). Manchester, Jones 13-13-1 (40 shots-36 saves).
A-9,852
Referees-Marcus Vinnerborg (45).
Linesmen-Joe Ross (92), Brian MacDonald (72).
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