Tonight is game number seven of 12 between the Manchester Monarchs (22-7-1-4) and the Providence Bruins (16-10-1-5). 11 points separate the first place Monarchs in the Atlantic Division from the second place Bruins.
After winning the first five games against Providence this season, the Monarchs dropped the last meeting between the two teams by a score of 7-2 on December 6th. The Monarchs are coming off of a 5-2 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack on Sunday.
Linden Vey and Tanner Pearson each had three points in the win. Vey has had two goals and three assists for five points in his four games since being sent back down from the Los Angeles Kings. In the last six games, Tanner Pearson has seven points with four goals and three assists.
Jean-Fracois Berube (16-6-2, 2.35 GAA, 0.919 save%) is making his 21st start in a row. He will face Niklas Svedberg (12-5-3, 2.97 GAA, 0.904 save%) in net for Providence.
Game Notes
| Providence | Manchester | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 16-10-1-5 (38 points) in 34 GP | 22-7-1-4 (49 points) in 32 GP |
| Division Rank | 2nd in Atlantic | 1st in Atlantic |
| Conference Rank | 6th in Eastern | 1st in Eastern |
| Home/Away | Away: 10-5-0-3 | Home: 11-3-1-1 |
| Last 10 | 4-3-0-3 | 7-2-0-1 |
| Goals For | 109 | 105 |
| Goals Against | 102 | 85 |
| PIM/G | 17.7 | 14.0 |
| Shootout Record | 5-5 | 4-4 |
| Leading After 1 | 8-1-0-2 | 10-1-0-1 |
| Trailing After 1 | 3-9-0-0 | 4-3-0-0 |
| Tied After 1 | 5-0-1-3 | 8-3-1-3 |
| Leading After 2 | 11-0-1-3 | 17-0-0-3 |
| Trailing After 2 | 1-9-0-1 | 3-4-0-0 |
| Tied After 2 | 4-1-0-1 | 2-3-1-1 |
Leading Scorers
Manchester is lead by Jordan Weal with 27 points, followed by Brandon Kozun with 25 points and Nick Deslauriers with 21 points.
Providene is lead in scoring by Carter Camper, who is looking to extend a five-game point streak, with 25 points, followed by defenseman Joe Morrow with 21 points and Craig Cunningham with 20 points.
Jordan Weal is in the top 20 in scoring for the entire AHL. Nick Deslauriers leads the AHL in shots on net with 121. Dynamic defensive duo Andrew Bodnarchuk and Vincent LoVerde have a +23 and +20 respectively, which is good for first and second in the AHL.
in the season series Kozun has nine points in six games. Weal has seven points; Pearson has six points; and Bodnarchuk has five points. For the P-Bruins, Seth Griffith, Jared Knight, and David Warsofsky are the scoring leaders in the season series each with five points against Manchester.
Special Teams
Manchester’s power play is ranked 27th in the league (13.0%), giving Providence a decisive advantage on the man advantage as they are ranked fourth at 22.6%. On the penalty kill, Providence is 28th in the league at 76.7%, giving the 14th-ranked Monarchs (13.0%) the advantage.
Lineups
As of now, line combinations and healthy scratches are not available, but I will update as soon as they are made available. Stay tuned, the game starts at 7pm!
Some fun facts: Brandon Kozun leads the Monarchs all-time in several categories. He is the team’s all-time leader in game-winning goals (17), third place in goals (76), points (174), and power play goals (24). He is fourth in assists (98) and ninth in shots (512).
After a fantastic November at home when the team went 6-0-0-0 and 9-2-0-1 total, they have leveled off in December. They are 7-4-0-1 before tonight’s final December game.
Lines and Defensive Pairs for Providence
Providence is dressing 11 forwards, so the fourth line will be rotating in with the third.
Justin Florek – Carter Camper – Seth Griffith
Jared Knight – Craig Cunningham – Jack Downing
Anthony Camara – Andrew Cherniwchan – Bobby Robins
Scott Campbell – Rob Flick
On defense, the 7th defensemen will be rotating in:
David Warsofsky – Scott Trotman
Ben Youds – Joe Morrow
Tommy Cross – Mike Moore
Steve Spinell
Lines and Defensive Pairs for Manchester
Tanner Pearson – Linden Vey – Andy Andreoff
Brandon Kozun – Jordan Weal – Nick Deslauriers
Sean Backman – Nick Shore – Brian O’Neill
Scott Sabourin – Ian O’Connor – AJ Gale
Andrew Bodnarchuk – Vinvent LoVerde
Andrew Campbell – Derek Forbort
Colin Miller – Jeff Schultz