MANCHESTER, NH – Goals from Derek Arnold, Troy Power and Zac Larraza pushed the Manchester Monarchs past the Reading Royals, 3-2, Friday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
The Monarchs (13-7-0-0) have now won four straight games, and beat the Royals (9-8-0-1) in first matchup ever between the two clubs.
“(I’m glad) we got the result,” Head Coach Rich Seeley said. “I thought Colin Stevens made some huge stops to give us the chance to win, and that was big. It was nice to weather the storm.”
Despite a scoreless first period, the Monarchs were able to gain momentum, outshooting the Royals 10-4 in the period.
The Monarchs opened the scoring while on the power play, when Derek Arnold scored his 5th goal of the season at 6:44 of the second period. Newcomer, Joel Lowry, drove his way towards the net, sending the initial shot popping high into the air. Arnold found Lowry’s rebound and connected on the backhand to push it past Reading goaltender, Connor Knapp, for the 1-0 lead.
Reading tied the game on the power play at 13:36 of the second frame, when Justin Crandall scored his 7th goal of the season. Kevin Young unleashed a slap shot from the left point and Crandall managed to redirect the puck past Monarchs goaltender, Colin Stevens.
Troy Power sent the Monarchs into the dressing room ahead, when he scored his 3rd goal of the season at 18:49 of the period. Gaspar Kopitar stole the puck to the right of Knapp and found Alex Roach at the left point. Roach fired a wrist shot towards the net and Power tipped the puck past Knapp to put the Monarchs up, 2-1.
Zac Larraza extended the Monarchs lead at 5:17 of the third period, when he scored his 9th goal of the season. Yann Sauvé battled by the end boards behind Knapp before seeing Larraza camped out near the top of the slot. Larraza settled the bouncing puck, and sent a wrister into the back of the Knapp’s net for the 3-2 lead.
The Royals drew within one with 1:24 remaining in the game on Mike Pereira’s 10th goal of the season. With Knapp pulled for an extra attacker, Pereira beat Stevens from the right face-off circle, but that is as close as the Royals would come.
The Monarchs are back in action tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 5 (7 p.m.) against the Royals for the second of three games this weekend on Star Wars Night. The Monarchs will wear specialty Storm Troopers uniforms that will be available for auction, and there will be Star Wars characters wandering the concourse throughout the game. All proceeds from the game will be donated to the March of Dimes.
Notes
- Yann Sauvé pushed his point streak to eight games and captured his 80th professional point
- The Monarchs power-play-goal was the first that the Royals gave up all season on the road after beginning 18-for-18
- David Kolomatis played in his 335th professional game
- Zac Larraza has scored goals in six of his last seven games
