| Monarchs
Hold off Albany Comeback -- 11/10/03 http://www.theunionleader.com/monarchs_show.html?article=28739 |
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Kevin Provencher MANCHESTER — Yanick Lehoux figured on both goals and the Manchester Monarchs held off a chaotic Albany jailbreak offensive in the final minutes in downing the River Rats 2-1 last night before 9,687 in the sold-out Verizon Wireless Arena. The Monarchs (7-5-1-1) are unbeaten in their last six and have won four straight at home. No overconfidence here, however. No one dared leave their seats. “That would have been a criminal thing if they had tied it up,” said Monarchs’ coach Bruce Boudreau. The River Rats (2-6-2-1) have just one win in their last six, but only once this season have they lost by more than one goal (and that was via an empty net). Former Boston College goaltender Scott Clemmensen made 35 saves, keeping the River Rats hanging on until the bitter end. “We’ve played just well enough to lose,” said Albany coach Red Gendron, the frustration in his voice clear. With a little help from his friends, Manchester goaltender Adam Hauser, second-rated in the AHL, was one goal better than Clemmensen. “Brick” Hauser remains undefeated in his four Monarchs appearances so far. He appeared en route to his third AHL shutout with 22 saves, especially when he made five stops on a River Rats’ power play with 5:50 left. But, with Clemmensen pulled for an extra skater in the final two minutes, Albany second-year pro Eric Johansson finally converted at Hauser’s back door on a perfect feed from veteran scorer Craig Darby. With 20 seconds left, Albany’s Maxim Balmochnykh hit the post. With two seconds left, Hauser was on his back in the crease, legs and sticks everywhere. Dead to rights, he made a snow angel-like arm save on Jiri Bicek, a veteran who played 44 games with the Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils last season. “They put in two real solid minutes and almost stole one from us,” added Boudreau. “Take the playbook and throw it right out the window there,” said a relieved Hauser. “They put a whole lot of pressure on. “They’re not a bad team at all. Two-nothing on them, it’s a great score for us, but that’s still striking distance. You could see they put the pressure on and they never stopped. Exciting,” Hauser said. “He made a couple huge saves at the end,” said the Monarchs’ captain, defenseman Richard Seeley. “We played with desperation at the end of the game, but we didn’t do much for most of the game,” said Gendron. “Yeah, it was a heck of a try at the end and we could have tied the game, but we didn’t deserve to win the hockey game.” Manchester’s Scott Barney scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season, which at the time felt like an insurance tally, 2:27 into the third period. Camped in front of Clemmensen, Barney made it 2-0 by finishing the short rebound of Lehoux’ close-range bid that came as a Monarchs power play had just ended. Lehoux, noting that finally some bounces went his way, had put Manchester on the board by one-timing Jeff Giuliano’s short centering pass in front 4:24 into the second period for a 1-0 lead. Albany (2-6-2-1)
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