Calder Cup Final, Game 1: Utica Comets @ Manchester Monarchs

Utica Comets vs Manchester Monarchs (Verizon Wireless Arena)

Web: AHLLive.com

Lineups:

Monarchs projected lineup:

Mersch-Weal-O'Neill
Kempe-Shore-O'Brien
Van der Gulik-Dowd-Backman
Bissonnette-Crescenzi-Auger

Bodnarchuk – LoVerde
Schultz – Miller
Forbort – Gravel

Berube
Injured: No one; Scratched: Raine, Ebert, Horvat, Gratton

Utica projected lineup:

Conacher-O'Reilly-Grenier
Baertschi-Friesen-Virtanen
Gaunce-Hamilton-Zalewski
Shinkaruk-Acton-DeFazio

Corrado-Biega
Andersson-Sanguinetti
Huskins-Clendening

Markstrom

Game Notes:

• Jordan Weal was on a hot streak for a while but has cooled off slightly. He still leads all players in scoring during these playoffs.
• It seems as though Adrian Kempe could be heating up, though; he scored in back-to-back games as the Monarchs swept the Hartford Wolf Pack in the previous round.
• Cory Conacher was totally absent in the first two rounds but managed to score 4 goals in his last 3 games.
• Former Canuck/King Dan Cloutier is being credited with fixing Jacob Markstrom and making him better. Yes, that Cloutier.
• The Monarchs are perfect at home and when scoring first.
• Manchester has been so hot lately, that if they don't score within the first seven minutes of the game, we'll know they're rusty.
• Cory Conacher and Jake Virtanen have apparently been doing wonders for the Comets so they'll be guys to keep an eye on.