MANCHESTER, NH – The Manchester Monarchs were dominant on special teams in a 7-3 victory over the Cincinnati Cyclones on Friday night at SNHU Arena. The Monarchs converted on four power-plays, went five-for-five on the penalty kill and scored their first short-handed goal of the season in the win.
The Monarchs (3-1-0-1) took their first-ever meeting with the Cyclones (1-4-0-0), and look to take game two of the series tomorrow night.
“The guys came out and executed the game plan well,” said Monarchs Head Coach, Rich Seeley. “There were spurts in the game that we didn’t play the way we wanted to, but I think as far as executing the game plan, tonight was one of our better efforts.”
The Monarchs opened the scoring at 6:01 of the first period when David Kolomatis notched his 1st goal of the season on the power play.
Joey Diamond carried the puck around the back of the net and found Kolomatis driving into the right circle, where he took a shot that went sailing over the right shoulder of Cyclones goaltender, Michael Houser, to give the Monarchs the early 1-0 lead.
The lead did not last for long for the Monarchs, as Dominic Zombo scored his 3rd goal of the season 2:52 later. Newly assigned Monarchs goaltender, Sam Brittain, stopped the initial shot from Peter Leblanc, but the rebound popped out to the top of the crease where Zombo buried the tying goal.
Manchester quickly regained a 2-1 lead when Quentin Shore scored his 2nd goal of the season at 11:17 of the opening period. Kevin Morris raced into the offensive zone and found Shore to his right where he fired a wrister over the shoulder of Houser to put the Monarchs up, 2-1.
Damir Sharipzyanov gave the Monarchs a 3-1 advantage when he netted his 2nd goal of the season, again on the power play. Justin Agosta sent a cross-ice pass to a cutting Sharipzyanov on his right where he buried the second Monarchs goal while on the man-advantage.
Joey Diamond put the Monarchs up 4-1 when he scored his 2nd goal of the season at 18:41 on the tail end of a double-minor penalty on the Cyclones. Houser left a rebound from a Daniel Doremus shot from the point in the slot, where Diamond then dove across the crease to roof the puck home.
The Monarchs took a 5-1 lead when Agosta tallied his 1st goal of the season 2:27 into the second period. Mark Visentin replaced Houser to start the period in net for Cincinnati, but a goalie change did not stop Manchester’s special teams from continuing to score. With Visentin hugging the right post, Justin Gutierrez crossed the puck through the crease to Agosta, who lifted the puck into the open net for the Monarchs fourth power-play goal of the night.
The Cyclones stopped four-consecutive Monarchs goals on a tally from Jordan Sims at 16:54 of the middle frame. Nick Huard backhanded a pass to Sims at the top of the crease where he lifted it over a sprawling Brittain, cutting into the Monarchs lead, 5-2.
Connor Hardowa extended the Monarchs lead to 6-2 at 8:01 of the third period when he scored his 1st goal of the season. Gutierrez found a loose puck in the slot and tossed it to Hardowa at the left point where he fired a one-timer past Visentin.
The Monarchs special teams struck again at 12:04 of the third period, this time with a short-handed goal from Alexx Privitera, his 1st goal of the season. Shore sent a slap shot that hit the mask of Visentin at the top of the crease, and the rebound found the stick of Privitera who buried it into the open net for the seventh goal of the night for the Monarchs.
Cincinnati scored their third goal of the night just :42 seconds later when Shawn O’Donnell fired a wrister from one knee past Brittain, just as Morris exited the penalty box.
The Monarchs and Cyclones are back on the ice Saturday, Oct. 29 (6 p.m.), for the middle game of their three-game-series at SNHU Arena.
NOTES
- Alexx Privitera scored the Monarchs first short-handed goal of the season on his first professional goal
- The seven goals scored by the Monarchs are the most in a single game since Nov. 10, 2015
- Sam Brittain recorded his first victory with the Monarchs
- Matt Leitner extended his point-streak to five games.
Saturday Oct. 29 Game Day Capsule
MONARCHS POINTS LEADERS
Daniel Ciampini: 6 points (2g, 4a)
Matt Leitner: 6 points (1g, 5a)
Multiple players tied with 5 points
MONARCHS GOALTENDING LEADERS
Colin Stevens: 2-0-0-1, 2.22 GAA, 0.926 save %
Sam Brittain: 1-0-0-0, 3.00 GAA, 0.889 save %
CYCLONES POINTS LEADERS
Dominic Zombo: 3 points (3g)
Shawn O’Donnell: 3 points (1g, 2a)
Peter Leblanc: 3 points (3a)
CYCLONES GOALTENDING LEADERS
Michael Houser: 1-1-0-0, 3.75 GAA, 0.907 save %
Brody Hoffman: 0-3-0-0, 3.58 GAA, 0.862 save %
WHERE WE STAND
With their win last night, the Monarchs (7 pts.) jumped into a second-place tie with the Reading Royals, and sit just one point behind the Adirondack Thunder for tops in the North Division. Manchester is also tied for third in the Eastern Conference.
LEADING THE WAY
Matt Leitner (1g, 5a) and Daniel Ciampini (2g, 4a) continue to lead the Monarchs in scoring with six points each. After last night’s seven-goal explosion, the team now has nine players with at least four points, including Leitner and Ciampini, over the first five games of the season.
IT WAS SPECIAL
The Monarchs converted on four of their five power play opportunities last night, and have vaulted into first-place in the ECHL in power play efficiency, scoring at 40% on the man-advantage. Not to be out-done, the penalty-killing unit has stopped a league leading 100% of power plays at home, and are currently tied for the third-best unit in the league, killing penalties off at 93.8%
SHORTY IN THE HOUSE
Monarchs rookie, Alexx Privitera, scored his first career goal in last night’s 7-3 win, and it came while short-handed. The first-year defenseman from the University of Vermont now had two points (1g, 1a) in the first three games of his professional career.
YOUNG GUNS
The Monarchs have been getting contributions from all over their roster early in the season, but rookies Justin Gutierrez, Quentin Shore and Cory Ward are starting to stand out. Gutierrez currently sits in a tie for the fourth-most points in the league with five points (1g, 4a), while Shore and Ward are in a fifth-place tie amongst rookie skaters with four points each.
POINTS FROM THE POINT
Justin Agosta (1g, 4a) and David Kolomatis (1g, 4a) are both tied for third in scoring for defensemen the ECHL. The pair of blue-liners have played two and three fewer games than Josh Atkinson (ATL) and Blake Kessel (ATL) respectively, who lead all defensemen with seven points.
