The blog server appears to be working today, so I’ll give this whole posting thing a go. Don Fulton tracked down coach Mark Morris, whose Manchester Monarchs are in dire straits, down 3-0 to Providence and facing elimination tonight. Don also has an interview with Jeff Zatkoff ready to go. Here’s what Morris had to say about the Monarchs’ situation:

On being down 3-0 in the series.

“We’ve gotten great goaltending from both Bernier and Quick, and I don’t think we have to hang our heads at all. We had those two goals disallowed (in Game 3), that in our opinion, were both good goals, and we didn’t have a whole lot of things go our way. I really believe that we are really on the verge of winning any one of those games. These are the types of battles that are going to make these guys better hockey players.”

On the absence of Brian Boyle:

“That was a huge blow. Brian is such a physical presence, guy who played half the season as a defenseman and still lead the league in rookie scoring. I can’t say enough for what he has meant to our hockey club. There aren’t too many 6-7, 250-pound people that can replace him. He’s been a huge presence in front of the net on the power play, and a good face-off man. He knows how to distribute the puck and he is a hard guy to hold. My guess is that his recovery time is going to be too lengthy unless we are able to turn this thing around.”

Pascal Pelletier scored 9:01 into overtime as Providence beat Manchester 3-2 in the first game of the best-of-seven first round series in the AHL playoffs. Petr Kanko scored with just over five minutes left in the first period to give the Monarchs a 1-0 lead, and after two Providence goals (one shorthanded), the Monarchs tied the game when Matt Moulson scored a power-play goal 9:30 into the third period. Jonathan Bernier played in goal for the Monarchs and stopped 34 of 37 shots. Tonight’s game was played in Providence. The Bruins also host Game 2 on Friday.

Game 1 of the first-round AHL playoff series between Manchester and Providence starts just after 4 p.m. Pacific time (7 p.m. local time). The Monarchs, who finished fourth in their division, face the Bruins, who finished first. The Monarchs coach is indicating that Brian Boyle might return sometime during the series, but that seems vague. A key to the series could be whether Phil Kessel shows up. Kessel has been a healthy scratch for the Boston Bruins put could end up on the Providence roster at some point.

There’s a webcast of the game, but you have to shell out $6 to watch it. Seems as though there might be free audio on the Monarchs’ site, but I can’t be 100 percent certain of that. Here’s a couple preview stories from the two local papers:

Manchester Union-Leader: Monarchs prepped for playoff test

Providence Journal: P-Bruins are riding wave into playoffs

The Manchester Monarchs concluded their regular season Saturday and are now preparing for a first-round series against the Providence Bruins, starting Wednesday in Providence. The Monarchs finished with 88 points, good for fourth in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division, while the Bruins finished first with 117 points.

Here’s the series schedule. I found it interesting that the series goes 2-2-2-1. Providence gets four of the first six games at home, but the seventh game would be at Manchester. Interesting setup…

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 16 – Manchester at Providence
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 18 – Manchester at Providence
Game 3 – Sat., Apr. 19 – Providence at Manchester
Game 4 – Mon., Apr. 21 – Providence at Manchester
*Game 5 – Fri., Apr. 25 – Manchester at Providence
*Game 6 – Sat., Apr. 26 – Manchester at Providence
*Game 7 – Mon., Apr. 28 – Providence at Manchester

Here’s today’s story from the Union Leader:

Monarchs Insider