Trevor Lewis tallied two goals to help lead the Monarchs.

MANCHESTER, NH – Goaltender Jonathan Bernier stopped all 26 shots that came his way to earn his first shutout of the playoffs as the Manchester Monarchs skated to a 5-0 victory over the Worcester Sharks to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven 2010 Calder Cup Atlantic Division Final at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday night. With the Monarchs scoring more than four goals on home ice, all fans received free french fries from McDonalds.

“It was a great win,” said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris. “It was fun. The guys really came to play.”

In regards to the three power play goals by the Monarchs, Morris explained, “We worked probably a half an hour on it the other day. It seemed to have worked.”

Manchester started the scoring early in the first period with center Gabe Gauthier’s first playoff goal at the 2:24 mark. Left wing Bud Holloway skated down the right wing of the Sharks zone when left wing Dwight King fed him a pass from the blueline. Holloway quickly directed a pass to Gauthier in the left corner of the crease and the center slid the puck past netminder Alex Stalock for the power play tally.

Right wing Trevor Lewis scored his first of two goals on the night at 1:57 of the second period. With a pass from center Oscar Moller who was in the slot, Lewis blasted a shot from the left face-off circle for his fourth goal of the playoffs. Defenseman Alec Martinez earned an assist on the Monarchs second power play goal of the game.

Controlling the puck in the right face-off circle, center Andrei Loktionov passed the puck to Moller behind the net. With tic-tac-toe passing, Moller then connected with Lewis who was between the hash marks. With traffic building in the crease, Lewis sniped a shot that beat Stalock at 2:47 of the second stanza. Lewis was credited with his second goal of the night and fifth tally of the playoffs.

Left wing David Meckler scored his first playoff goal at 7:36 of the third period. Center Corey Elkins controlled the puck and carried it over the Sharks blueline. With Meckler skating down the right wing, Elkins hit him with a tape-to-tape pass. Meckler placed the puck into the top of the net behind Stalock to give the Monarchs a 4-0 lead.

Manchester finished off the scoring when Elkins netted his third goal of the playoffs. Defenseman Drew Bagnall fired a shot from the top of the left face-off circle that deflected off of Stalock’s left skate. The puck rebounded to Elkins on the doorstep and the center swiped the puck past the fallen netminder. Center Marc-Andre Cliche earned an assist on the goal.

Bernier (6-1) earned his sixth playoff victory by stopping all 26 shots on goal. Stalock (5-3) took his third loss of the playoffs with 31 saves on 36 shots.

Manchester went 3-for-8 on the power play. Worcester did not have a power play.

NOTABLES: The Monarchs four penalty minutes is an all-time playoff low in franchise history…Manchester tied the team’s all-time playoff record of three power play goals in a game…Goaltender Jonathan Bernier earned his first shutout of the post-season in his professional career…Bernier is tied with former Monarchs netminder Jason LaBarbera for playoff wins with six each…Left wing Bud Holloway’s has the longest playoff point streak in franchise history with eight points (5-3=8) in seven games...Manchester’s game-winning goal was recorded by center Gabe Gauthier; it was the first game-winning goal this playoff season that was not scored by Holloway.