Monarchs Steal Pirates' Treasure
Taylor turns aside 31 shots for fourth shutout
MANCHESTER, NH – Center Brady Murray tallied a goal off an odd man rush and goaltender Daniel Taylor withstood all 31 shots he faced as the Manchester Monarchs blanked the Portland Pirates 2-0 in front of 6,038 fans at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Wednesday night.
Manchester (33-29-5-4) is in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 75 points. Portland (42-24-2-4) remains in third place in the Atlantic Division with 90 points.
Manchester's first, and ultimately decisive goal, came off the stick of Murray 7:02 into the middle stanza. Leading a 3-on-2 rush into Portland's zone, Murray forwarded the puck to right wing Teddy Purcell, who then dished it cross-ice to center Marc-Andre Cliche at the left circle. Cliche found Murray waiting at Portland goaltender Mike McKenna's doorstep to bang home a one-timer. The goal was Murray's seventh of the season.
The Monarchs doubled their lead on left wing Matt Moulson's 26th goal of the season, scored 14:21 into the final frame. Gathering the puck at the left wall, center Matt Ryan sent the puck to defenseman Jeff Likens at the right point. Likens stepped up and unleashed a shot that deflected to Moulson in the slot. Moulson then re-directed the puck past McKenna.
Taylor (13-5-2) stopped all 31 shots he faced for the victory. McKenna (23-10-1) was saddled with the loss, denying 21-of-23 shots.
Manchester went 0-for-3 on the power play. Portland was also 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
The Monarchs travel south to battle the Norfolk Admirals at the Norfolk Scope on Friday, March 28 at 7:15 p.m. Catch all of the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail on the Monarchs Radio Network WGIR-AM 610 and at
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Monarchs Steal Pirates' Treasure 
