Five separate Monarchs score goals
MANCHESTER, NH – The Manchester Monarchs crept to within one game of clinching a playoff spot with a 5-2 victory over the Elmira Jackals on Saturday night at SNHU Arena.
The Monarchs (35-22-7-4) improved their season record against the Jackals (17-44-7-1) to 7-6-0-0.
“I liked the way we worked tonight,” Monarchs Head Coach Rich Seeley said. “We played a pretty solid game for the most part and our special teams stepped up when they needed to. It was a good way to start the weekend.”
The Monarchs took the early lead at 8:29 of the first period when Mario Puskarich lit the lamp for his 3rd goal of the season. After a Colton Saucerman slapshot from the point caromed off the glass to the right side of the net, Puskarich batted the bouncing puck into the cage past a sprawling Andy Iles to give Manchester a 1-0 lead.
The Jackals tied the game at 15:37 of the first period when Davis Vandane scored his 10th goal of the season while Elmira was on the power play. Vandane took a cross-ice pass from Matt Stanisz and fired a one-timer from the left dot past the blocker of Monarchs goaltender, Jack Flinn, to even the score, 1-1.
The Monarchs jumped back on top at 6:29 of the second period when Daniel Doremus netted his 10th goal of the season. Rihards Bukarts weaved into the offensive zone before sending a pass to Joey Diamond in the right circle. Diamond skated his way from right to left across the zone and took a shot while falling on his back that was knocked down at the left side of the net, but Doremus tucked it past Iles to give Manchester a 2-1 lead.
Manchester extended the lead at 11:34 of the second period when Cory Ward scored his 16th goal of the season. Bukarts slithered into the offensive zone and wristed a shot wide of Iles. Similar to the first Monarchs goal, a friendly bounce off the end-boards spit the puck behind Iles where Ward stuffed the puck home to put the Monarchs up, 3-1.
The Jackals cut into the Monarchs lead when Perry D’Arrisso scored his 1st goal of the season at 16:45 of the middle frame. D’Arrisso followed a rush by Reed Seckel, found the loose puck in the slot and pushed home his first career goal to make the score, 3-2, Monarchs.
Manchester pushed their lead back to two at 5:34 of the third period when Saucerman scored his 4th goal of the season. Cory Ward sent a pass to Kevin Morris sitting on the goal line, where Morris settled the puck and sent a backhanded pass in front of the net. Streaking into the slot from the blue line, Saucerman one-timed a shot past the blocker of Iles to give the Monarchs a 4-2 lead.
The Monarchs tacked another goal onto their lead at 18:59 of the third period with an empty net goal by Zac Lynch. Diamond corralled the puck behind the net and skated out to the right hashmark looking for a lane to shoot, and sent a pass to the bottom of the left circle where Lynch slid the puck into the net for his 16th goal of the season.
The Monarchs are back on SNHU Arena ice Sunday, Apr. 2 (3 p.m.), when they host the Jackals in the regular season finale on Fan Appreciation Weekend. Tickets for the remainder of the season are available, HERE.
Notes
- Teddy Doherty recorded his 35th career assist
- Kevin Morris scored his 35th professional point
- Zac Lynch put eight shots on net in his return from the Springfield Thunderbirds
- The Monarchs improved their record to 31-0-3-2 when leading after two periods
