Monarchs’ reign continues at 7-0-0-0

The Manchester Monarchs got a goal and an assist from Tom Kostopoulos and 31 saves from Mathieu Garon in a 3-0 win at Portland on Sunday afternoon.

The Monarchs are now 7-0-0-0 on the season, outscoring the opposition by a 34-10 margin, including 17-2 in the last four games.

Kostopoulos, who was held off the scoresheet for the first time on Saturday, responded with his sixth two-point effort of the year. Yanick Lehoux, who scored 14 goals all of last year, netted his team-high ninth, and Brad Smyth recorded an assist to extend his scoring streak to seven games.

Garon posted his second straight shutout and improved to 4-0-0.

Manchester is off until Friday, when it visits Worcester.

Elsewhere on Sunday:
Ryan Kesler and Lee Goren scored in the third period to lift Manitoba past Hamilton, 2-1… Ramzi Abid‘s power-play goal in the final seconds of the second period stood up as Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves for his first career AHL shutout in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 2-0 win over Binghamton… Attendance in Wilkes-Barre was 7,727, ending the Penguins’ sellout streak at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza at 144 regular-season games… Tim Jackman scored with 5:29 left in regulation to give Syracuse a 3-2 win over Rochester… Eric Perrin‘s goal early in the third period capped a comeback from two goals down and led Hershey past Norfolk, 3-2.