ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA – The Newfoundland Growlers may be just an expansion team, it’s taken them little time to establish dominance over the Manchester Monarchs, with Friday night’s contest marking Newfoundland’s third straight victory in the season series.
Just like the last matchup between these two teams, the Growlers struck early, this time with a power play wrister from Brady Ferguson 2:35 into the first period.
Spencer Watson tied things up just before the first intermission and the Monarchs took the lead 6:21 into the second period thanks to Nick Moutrey’s fourth goal of the season.
However, the hosts took over in the final frame, putting up three unanswered goals, including two from Scott Pooley, doubling his season total to this point.
David Kolomatis assisted Moutrey’s goal, marking his 200th career point as a Monarch, becoming the all-time franchise leader.
Kolomatis, 29, passed Noah Clarke, who played games for the team between 2002 and 2007.
A 5-foot-11, 196-pound native of Livingston, N.J., Kolomatis has skated in 413 games for the Monarchs, dating back to the 2009-10 season. In 413 games, he has recorded 48 goals and 152 assists in Manchester.
Kolomatis has captained the Monarchs for the past four seasons, since their transition from the AHL to the ECHL. He is only two games away from becoming the all-time franchise leader in games played, looking to pass Andrew Campbell, who has 414 games played.
Manchester (4-5-1-1) and Newfoundland (10-5-0-0) meet again at the Mile One Centre on Saturday at 5 p.m.
