The Manchester Monarchs return to SNHU Arena this week after a road trip that the boys in black are looking to quickly forget.
Manchester dropped both games in their first-ever ECHL visit to Newfoundland, falling 4-2 on Friday and 3-0 on Saturday.
In both games, the Monarchs gave up early power play goals¸ allowing a third late on Saturday. That’s nothing new, although only two other teams have fewer penalty minutes than Manchester, only two other teams have been worse on the penalty kill so far.
Both games also saw a positive stretch for the Monarchs. Manchester held the lead for much of the second period in the Friday game and a frenetic pace in the final two periods of the Saturday game that saw Manchester outshoot Newfoundland by an almost 3-to-1 margin.
However, in both games, the Monarchs could not maintain their momentum, putting them at four losses in four contests against the Growlers so far in this young season.
Growlers goaltender Michael Garteig earned the CCM/ECHL Goaltender of the Week award for his efforts against Manchester and Worcester a few days earlier, leading the league with eight wins.
The Monarchs won’t see Newfoundland again until March 20. In the meantime, they seek to stop their current four-game slide on Wednesday morning with a contest against the Adirondack Thunder, followed by a Friday night showdown against the Orlando Solar Bears.
Three Stars
Top Star: Nick Moutrey (1 goal, +1, 7 shots on goal)
Second Star: Shane Watson (1 goal, -2, 4 shots on goal)
Third Star: Tony Cameranesi (+1, 8 shots on goal)
