Manchester Monarchs Demolish Providence Bruins 5-1, Jonathan Quick Earn First AHL Win

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com –

PROVIDENCE, RI – Goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped 34 shots for his first AHL win as the Manchester Monarchs topped the Providence Bruins 5-1 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center on Sunday evening.

Manchester (7-9-2-1) is in sixth place in the Atlantic Division with 17 points.  Providence (14-3-1-0) is ranked first in the Atlantic Division with 29 points.

The Monarchs defensemen went to work in the first period as they tallied three goals in a span of two minutes and four seconds.  Defenseman Peter Harrold scored his first goal of the evening at 14:36 of the opening period with a shot from the right point.  Right wing Kevin Westgarth parked his 6-foot-4, 235-pound frame in front of goaltender Mike Brown for the screen.  Harrold collected the puck from defenseman Jeff Likens and ripped a shot past Brown for the 1-0 lead.  Center Trevor Lewis also earned an assist on Harrold's fifth goal of the season.

Defenseman Troy Milam doubled the Monarchs lead less than a minute later with his fourth goal of the season at 15:35 of the first period.  Right wing Lauri Tukonen sent the puck to Milam at the top of the right face-off circle.  Monarchs left wing Paul Crosty skated in front of Brown for the screen as Milam's shot soared through the air and into the net for the 2-0 advantage.

Harrold capitalized at 16:40 of the first frame for his second goal of the night.  Left wing Jeff Giuliano picked up a pass from center Gabe Gauthier along the right wing boards.  Protecting the puck while being harassed by Providence players, Giuliano was able to keep control and send a pass to Harrold at the right point.  Harrold tossed the fluttering puck toward the net that snuck past a falling Brown.

Brown was replaced by netminder Ryan Nie following Harrold's second goal.  Brown stopped 7-of-10 shots.

The Monarchs continued to tally to the goals on the scoreboard in the second period as rookie center Patrick Jarrett recorded his first AHL goal at 13:33 of the middle frame.  Cutting in front of the Bruins net, Jarrett redirected a pass from defenseman Brian Boyle over Nie for his first goal in a Monarchs uniform.  Monarchs leading scorer right wing Teddy Purcell assisted on Jarrett's first of the season and the team's fourth of the night.

With Boyle in the penalty box for hooking, Monarchs center David Meckler stole the puck from the Bruins as they cycled at the points on the power play in Manchester's zone.  Meckler broke free from the Bruins defense for a one-on-one with Nie.  The rookie center skated in on Nie and flipped the puck in the air in an attempt to shoot it over the goaltender.  Nie got a piece of the puck but Meckler's shot was too strong and the puck tipped off the goaltender's glove and into the net.  Meckler's unassisted shorthanded goal came at 11:53 of the final period.

The Bruins ruined Quick's shutout bid at 17:33 of the third period as defenseman Brett Skinner collected his second tally of the season.  Providence put pressure on the Monarchs deep in Manchester's zone.  Center David Krejci handed off the puck to center Wacey Rabbit at the bottom of the right face-off circle.  Rabbitt carried the puck to the top of the circle and found Skinner at the bottom of the left face-off circle.  Skinner gathered the pass and snapped a wrist shot over Quick's glove and into the top of the net as the netminder tried to make the diving save.

Quick (1-1-0) stopped 34-of-35 shots for his first NHL win.  Brown (5-1-0) made seven saves in his first loss of the season before being replaced by Nie in the first period.  Nie (0-0-0) turned aside 10 of the 12 shots he faced.

Manchester went 0-for-3 on the power play.  Providence was 0-for-4 with the man advantage.

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