MANCHESTER, NH – Michael Boivin and Yann Sauve scored their first goals as Monarchs, helping to pave the way for a 5-4, come-from-behind victory over the Toledo Walleye on Friday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
The Monarchs (5-4-0-0) win was the first of three games this weekend against the Toledo Walleye (4-5-0-1).
“We buckled down and got the job done,” Head Coach Rich Seeley said. “We started blocking shots. Our penalty kill did a great job, and played a big part in getting the result we wanted.”
The Monarchs jumped out to an early lead in the first, despite being shorthanded three times. Manchester pushed the pace early, controlling the momentum as they jumped on the board at 11:30 of the frame. After a Danick Paquette shot on Toledo goalie, Jeff Lerg, Derek Arnold found the puck on the doorstep, and flipped it over Lerg’s left pad.
The lead doubled when the Monarchs went on their first power play of the game. Newcomer, Sauve, received a pass in the high slot from Stefan Legein and wristed home his first goal in a Monarchs sweater at 14:47 of the first.
Toledo sliced the Manchester lead in half at 17:04, when A.J. Jenks wristed the puck past Monarchs goalie, Michael Houser, for his second goal of the season.
When the game resumed, the Walleye evened the score at 8:50 in the second period. Kyle Bonis tipped a centered pass from Shane Berschbach to tie the game at 2-2.
The Walleye took the lead with their third consecutive goal while shorthanded at 17:04. Alden Hirschfield scored off the right circle, blowing the puck past Houser for his fourth goal of the season.
The Monarchs tied the game early in the third period, when Stefan Legein evened the score, :56 seconds into the period, weaving past a Toledo defender before wristing the puck above the reach of Lerg for his second goal of the season.
At 6:04 in the final period, Toledo took the lead once more. Joel Chouinard notched his first of the season following a costly Manchester turnover. Chouinard found his own rebound and beat Houser to put the Walleye ahead, 4-3.
The Monarchs fought back to tie things up, when Zac Larazza netted his third goal of the season. After receiving a pass from Alex Roach in his skates, Larazza kicked the puck to himself and snapped a shot from the slot, beating Lerg over his blocker.
The excitement continued :59 seconds after Larazza tied the game, as the Monarchs took the lead for good when Boivin scored his first goal of the season. Matt Leitner battled along the boards, and connected with Boivin who beat Lerg high blocker to give the Monarchs a 5-4 lead.
The Monarchs are back in action tomorrow night (7 p.m.) for “Mullets in Movember”, as the team raises funds and awareness about men’s cancers, with proceeds benefitting Norris Cotton Cancer Center.
Notes
Michael Boivin and Yann Sauve both scored their first goals of the season
Matt Leitner and Stefan Legein pushed their assist streaks to four games, marking the longest such streaks of the season
The Monarchs have scored power-play-goals in their last three games, after beginning the season 0-for-14 with the man-advantage
