The Manchester Monarchs return to the Granite State this week after a superb road trip by anyone’s estimation.
After beginning the trip with a sweep in Norfolk, Manchester narrowly lost a game in Worcester on Wednesday, bouncing back to Worcester on Friday and grabbing an overtime win on Saturday against Adirondack.
In the end, Manchester head coach Doug Christiansen credits the victories largely to attention toward the little things, but one cannot discount an improvement between the pipe
The second Worcester game was Manchester’s first shutout of the season, highlighting the recent return of goaltender Charles Williams prior another AHL loan, this time in Binghampton. Chris Dreidger has also impressed over his two appearances this week, stopping 71 of 74 shots he faced.
Dreidger’s now fifth in the ECHL among qualified goaltenders in Goals Against Average (2.23) and save percentage (.926%). Christiansen also expects Williams to return soon.
“Chris has been fantastic for us, he’s come back down from the American League and has done a really nice job,” said Christiansen. “For us, with the goaltending we had during our road trip, plus the game with Cole (Kehler) in Norfolk has really helped solidify our team and helped us have a chance to win.”
Manchester still cannot find the back of the net on the power play, although they only had one opportunity over the three games this week. They’re still near the top of the league in average shots per game, even though they were outshot in each of the three games this week.
“I think from our point of view, we need to have success in our division because those are the teams we need to go through to get to the playoffs and then face in the playoffs,” said Christiansen. “This is a great opportunity to build the momentum we built on the road.”
While Newfoundland has raced ahead of the pack in the North Division at 39 points, the Monarchs remain in the hunt with 28 points: three points behind second-place Reading and two points ahead of last-place Brampton.
The Monarchs host Reading on Friday night at 7, with Maine coming in a day later for a contest at 6 p.m.