MANCHESTER, NH – The Manchester Monarchs lost, 3-2, in overtime to the Adirondack Thunder on Sunday at Sullivan Arena as both teams wrapped up a series of home-and-home preseason games.
“I thought the effort was good at times, but not consistent enough to win the game,” head coach Richard Seeley said. “As a whole, I think our team played well. We did a lot of good things, but we didn’t put them away when we had the chance.”
The Monarchs got the scoring started in the first period with a late goal by Joey Diamond. Diamond’s second goal of the preseason came in front of the net on the power play. Diamond took a few swipes at the puck but couldn’t get the puck to settle. Once the puck flattened, the left wing beat Thunder goalie Drew Fielding from point blank range at 19:05 of the first period.
The Thunder evened things up at 4:23 in the second period when Stefano Momesso found the puck in the legs of three players in the slot, and slipped it on the ice past Monarchs goalie Colin Stevens’ left pad.
Adirondack added to their lead on the power play from a goal off the stick of Michael Kirkpatrick. The Thunder forward roofed a snap-shot from the left face-off dot past Stevens at 8:20 in the second period.
The Monarchs squared the game at 9:16 in the period when Alex Lintuniemi scored his second goal in as many nights. The defenseman maneuvered through two Adirondack defenders and beat Fielding through the five-hole from the slot.
The game ended up going to 3-on-3 overtime for the second night in a row, this time ending in Adirondack’s favor. With plenty of open ice, the Thunder took advantage of a 3-on-1 opportunity. Stevens made the initial save on the rush, but the rebound found the tape of Stephen Buco, who made no mistake on the finish.
The Monarchs will open the season at home Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. as they host the Brampton Beast at the Verizon Wireless Arena. Individual-game tickets for Opening Night are on sale now at ticketmaster.com or by calling the Monarchs Front Office at 603-626-7825.
