Friday, January 29, 2010 - Manchester Monarchs vs. Providence Bruins (Boston Bruins), Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island, 7:05 p.m.

Goals have been hard to come by for the Providence Bruins in the first five games of the series between the top affiliate of the Boston Bruins and the Monarchs.  The Bruins have scored in just two of the games and have a scoreless drought of 120 minutes and 48 seconds entering this one against Manchester.

Rookie goaltender Jeff Zatkoff (8-5-0 record, a 2.36 goal-against-average, a .936 save percentage and two shutouts) has posted both of his American Hockey League shutouts versus Providence, a 31-save effort on October 24 and a 36-save performance the last time the two teams met on December 27, both in Manchester.  Netminder Jonathan Bernier (19-11-5 record, a 2.01 goals-against-average, a .939 save percentage and four shutouts) blanked the Bruins on December 13 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center, stopping all 36 shots in his direction.

The only win for the Bruins in this series came on November 22 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center when Providence erased a 3-0 first period deficit to down the Monarchs, 5-4, on a goal with 48 seconds remaining in the game by defenseman Andrew Bondrachuk (1-9=10) who tallied his only marker of the season.  Fellow defenseman Adam McQuaid (3-7=10) had a pair of goals in that come-from-behind win.  McQuaid is currently skating with Boston.  He is the only multiple goal scorer against the Monarchs this season.

Manchester forwards Corey Elkins (16-18=34) and Bud Holloway (14-15=29) each have scored three times versus Providence matching the total number of goals the Bruins have managed versus the Monarchs with five head-to-head games remaining.

Providence has had difficulty putting the puck into the net for most of the season.  The Bruins are next to last in the Eastern Conference in goals scored with 111 in 46 games.  The team's leading goal scorers are right wing Mikko Lehtonen (12-21=33) and rookie left wing Jeff LoVecchio (12-6=18).  The Bruins attack is getting a bit of a shot in the arm as veteran center Trent Whitfield (9-11=20) has been returned to Providence from Boston.

Whitfield's 20 points are tied for fourth on the team and he has played in only half of the games.

Providence's power play, which is ranked 20th (15.1%) in the AHL, has not been able to convert on the power play against the Monarchs in 19 chances.  The Monarchs are 4-for-21 with the man advantage versus the Bruins.

At 11-11-2-0, Providence is the only team in the Atlantic Division that's not above the .500 mark on home ice.

Saturday, January 30, 2010 - Manchester Monarchs vs. Hartford Wolf Pack (New York Rangers), XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut, 7:00 p.m.

While the Providence Bruins haven't been able to dominate opponents at home, the Hartford Wolf Pack have been one of the top teams in the league on home ice, just ask the Monarchs.  While the Monarchs have outscored Hartford 19-4 in the four games at the Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester has dropped all three in Hartford, albeit two in overtime.  In their own barn, the Wolf Pack is 15-4-1-2, to top the Atlantic Division and second only to East Division-leader Hershey Bears in the Eastern Conference.

The Wolf Pack, however, dropped a 5-4 decision at home to the resurgent Norfolk Admirals on Wednesday night.  Hartford has had its share of struggles over the past 10 games, winning just four during that stretch (4-5-1-0), much of that due to the absence of two of their key players, right wing P.A. Parenteau (13-19=32) and defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti (6-21=27).  Both have been sidelined with injuries and neither played on Wednesday night against Norfolk.

All-Star center Corey Locke (19-34=53) is Hartford's leading scorer against the Monarchs with a pair of goals and four assists.  Right wing Derek Couture (5-4=9) and left wing Dane Byers (12-14=26) have two goals apiece versus Manchester.  Byers had the overtime game-winner last Friday night against the Monarchs.

Monarchs forwards Corey Elkins and  Bud Holloway, and  All-Star defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov (8-16=24) all have three goals against the Wolf Pack while center Gabe Gauthier (8-20=28) has scored twice and assisted on four others versus Hartford.

All three of Hartford's wins in the series have come with rookie goaltender Chad Johnson (14-8-2 record, a 2.03 goals-against-average and a .930 save percentage) between the pipes.  Johnson's goals-against-average versus the Monarchs is an outstanding 1.58.  The Wolf Pack's other two backstops have not been nearly as successful.  Netminder Matt Zaba (3-5-1 record, a 3.60 goals-against-average and a .882 save percentage) has a 5.11 goals-against-average versus Manchester while veteran goaltender Steve Valiquette (4-5-1 record, a 3.57 goals-against-average and a .880 save percentage) has recorded a goals-against-average of 6.72 in his two appearances against the Monarchs, both in Manchester.

Manchester's goaltender Jonathan Bernier has played every minute of the seven games of the series for the Monarchs.  Manchester's All-Star goaltender is 4-3-0 versus Hartford with a goals-against-average of 1.69 and a save percentage of .939.

Locke leads the AHL in power play goals with 13 and Hartford is ranked ninth in the league on the power play (18.5%) but against the Monarchs, the Wolf Pack are just 4-for-30 (13.3%).  Manchester's power play is fourth overall (20.9%) and they are 8-for-32 (25%) versus Hartford.