MANCHESTER, NH – Despite an early barrage, the Manchester Monarchs couldn’t pull off a victory against the Adirondack Thunder on Friday night, falling 5-2.
Manchester dominated early, grabbing the first goal off a David Kolomatis slap shot redirected by Matt Marcinew 5:50 into the first period. Shane Watson made it 2-0 just over a minute later, trickling home a wrister past the left pad of Thunder goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos.
Adirondack would not record a single shot over the first ten minutes of the contest, but their early troubles slowly began to fadeaway as the first period wound down. Just moments after the first Thunder power play 15:16 into the first period, Connor Riley pushed home a shot just left of Monarchs goaltender Cole Kehler to put the visitors on the board.
Mike Szmatula found himself in a scrum in front of the net, poking home the game tying goal 17:08 into the first period and Shane Conacher’s shorthanded score put Adirondack in the lead just over a minute later.
The only goal of the second period came from a breakaway effort by Adirondack’s Matt Salhany, with Connor Riley adding a power play goal from the blue line early in the third to give the visitors a three-goal lead.
Kehler made way for Brandon Wildung with 13:35 left in the contest, with Manchester going to an empty net with just over eight minutes left in the game on the Monarch’s third power play of the night.
That unsuccessful power play put Manchester at 1-for-25 on the power play this season at home
Friday’s contest marked Adirondack’s first win in three contests against Manchester this season. They will meet again at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, NY on Dec. 15
Meanwhile, the Monarchs return to the ice for the second Saturday in a row against the Maine Mariners, this time at SNHU Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 pm.
