Sharks vs. Monarchs Preview
December 29, 2006
By Marc Lachance
The Worcester Sharks (San Jose Sharks) travel to the Granite State tonight to take on the division leading Manchester Monarchs (Los Angeles Kings). Tonight will be the 5th meeting of the season between these two rivals with Worcester having a 2-1-0-1 record.
“Every game against a division opponent is huge,” said Sharks forward Tom Cavanagh. “It’s a big game.”
The two teams will meet next on February 10th in Manchester.
These two teams met last Friday with the Worcester Sharks beating the Manchester Monarchs 6-4. Mathieu Darche and Graham Mink led the offense with each getting five and four points, respectively, on the evening. Darche would end up getting a hat trick, the first ever in Worcester Sharks history and also added 2 assists to bring his point total to 37 on the season. Darche was the number one star in the AHL that night and is currently 4th in the league with 22 goals.
“We played well,” said Darche. “We were doing what we weren’t doing the last few games. We shot a lot of pucks on net,” he continued.
Graham Mink also assisted on four goals that night bringing his total to 13 assists in 13 games played. Also scoring for the Sharks were Brennan Evans, Riley Armstrong, and Mike Iggulden. Thomas Greiss made 22 saves in his 4th victory of the season.
Players to watch for:
WORCESTER:
Mathieu Darche- leads the team in goals against the Monarchs this season with 6.
Dimitri Patzold- last game played for the Sharks was on 11/26. He is currently 1-0-0-1 against the Monarchs.
MANCHESTER:
John Zeiler- scored 2 goals against the Sharks in their last meeting on 12/22.
Matt Moulson- has 2 goals and 3 assist in 4 games played against the Sharks.
NOTES: The Portland Pirates are back at the DCU Center on Saturday. It’s another chance to enter to win a Sharks replica jersey! Just stop by the Fan Relations table to enter to win by guessing the shots on net. The Sharks are currently 2-0-0-1 against the Pirates this season in their quest for the first UnumProvident Cup. SATURDAY NIGHT SIGNINGS will take place during the 2nd intermission. After the game, be sure to stay around for post-game FIREWORKS to help ring in the New Year!
The Sharks are 8-4-0-3 on the road this season. Manchester is 7-0-3 in their last 10 games at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
Tonight’s game will be a battle of special teams. They combined for 5 power play goals in their last meeting on December 22nd. Worcester is currently ranked 3rd in the league on the power play while Manchester is 7th. However, Worcester is ranked 25th in the league on the penalty kill with 77% and Manchester 22nd in the league with 79%.
AROUND THE ATLANTIC:
Springfield (35 pts) @ Portland (38 pts)
Lowell (35 pts) @ Norfolk
Providence (33 pts) @ Philadelphia
Hartford (30 pts) @ Bridgeport
Get to Know ‘Em-
What has been your most memorable moment in Worcester?
Mike Iggulden: “On The Ice? It might be that shoot-out goal (on opening night) or that 2-goal game against Portland.”
Dimitri Patzold: “Probably Worcester’s first win.”
Tom Cavanagh: “Opening night here. With all the fans and everything, it was a fun atmosphere and a great experience.”
Dan Spang: “It’s great to be able to just focus on hockey and be so close to home.”
Coach Cunniff: “It was the end of the second period, we had a 5 on 4 power play and we took like 13 shots in 20 seconds. It finally ended with Pavelski getting the puck behind the net and passing it in front to Darche, who put it 5-hole. It was an unbelievable sequence for us.”
|
