Preview: Monarchs on home ice tonight against Adirondack Thunder

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Monarchs rumble past the Thunder on NY ice Friday night Jan. 22.
Monarchs rumble past the Thunder on NY ice Friday night Jan. 22.

MANCHESTER, NH — OK, sports fans. There’s still time to grab seats for tonight’s Manchester Monarchs game, who face-off against the Adirondack Thunder at 7 p.m. at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

Click here for tickets.

Here’s your game day capsule from Monarch’s go-to guy, Matt Johnson:


 

 

Screenshot 2016-01-23 at 12.19.58 PM


WHERE WE STAND

The Monarchs head into the weekend in second place in the East Division for the first time in five weeks with 51 points, two points behind the Adirondack Thunder (53 pts.).  The Monarchs are eight points clear of third place Elmira (43 pts.) and sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

THERE’S A STORM BREWING

After grabbing two points last night at Adirondack, the Monarchs continue the three-game weekend series with two games from the friendly confines of the Verizon Wireless Arena. The Monarchs are 10-5-1-3 at home this season and 1-2-0-0 at home versus Adirondack. The Monarchs are currently 2nd in the division (51pts), trailing Adirondack (53pts) by only two points for a share of the top spot.

LEADING THE WAY

Matt Leitner continues to lead the Monarchs in scoring with 34 points on eight goals and 26 assists. Leitner sits third in scoring amongst ECHL rookie skaters and third in assists for first year players. Maxim Kitsyn sits second on the Monarchs roster in scoring with 29 points (15g, 14a) and Yann Sauve remains third in Monarchs scoring with 24 points (5g, 19a).

Doug Carr is showing himself nicely in a Monarchs sweater, posting a 4-1-0-4 record with a 2.10 GAA and 0.939 save percentage.

HITTING MILESTONES

Several Monarchs hit major career milestones this week.  Joe Diamond notched his 50th professional point in the January 17 game against Norfolk when he assisted on Derek Arnold’s second period goal, reaching that total in his 95thprofessional game.

Captain, David Kolomatis, played in his 350th career professional game Sunday afternoon, spanning his eight year career.  Kolomatis has played for the Providence Bruins (AHL), Monarchs (AHL & ECHL) and Hershey Bears in his North American career, also playing one season with Tappara Tampere in the SM-liiga.

Matt MacKenzie also reached a games played milestone, playing in his 200th career game in his 5th professional season.  This season marks MacKenzie’s first with the Monarchs while previously playing for the Elmira Jackals (ECHL), Rochester Americans (AHL), Greenville Road Warriors (ECHL) and Gwinnett Gladiators (ECHL).

Finally, Danick Paquette notched his 60th professional goal and 130th career point with his tally Sunday afternoon, hitting the milestone in his 266th professional game to go along with 1046 penalty minutes in his six-year career.

LEADING IN SHOTS

The Monarchs continue to lead the ECHL in shots on goal, entering the week with 1415 pucks on net in their 39 games, an average of 35.4 shots/game.  Maxim Kitsyn leads all Monarchs with 132 tries on goal (4th in the ECHL), with Michael Boivin (106) and David Kolomatis (102)  sitting at 4th and 5th respectively for all ECHL defensemen in shots on goal.

FRONT RUNNING ISN’T A BAD THING

The Monarchs have scored first in only 17 of their 39 games, but when they do, points usually follow.  At the start of the week, the Monarchs are 13-2-0-2 (28 pts.) when scoring the first goal of the game, which comes to a .824 points percentage.  Compared to the rest of the ECHL, the Monarchs are 6th overall in points percentage when going ahead first in a game.


 

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About this Author

Carol Robidoux

PublisherManchester Ink Link

Longtime NH journalist and publisher of ManchesterInkLink.com. Loves R&B, German beer, and the Queen City!