Game report provided by the Monarchs, LA Kings AHL affiliate…
MANCHESTER, NH – The Manchester Monarchs honored the Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings in a pre-game banner ceremony and defeated the Providence Bruins, 3-1, at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday night.
Manchester (19-17-2-2) is tied with the Worcester Sharks (19-17-1-3) for second place in the Atlantic Division with 42 points each. Providence (19-15-0-3) is in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 41 points.
“Compete level had to be high,” said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris. “It was a great bounce back game for Peter Mannino. I was happy for him, especially in front of a crowd like that. I know that he wanted to play well and I thought that our guys did a great job. They certainly had every opportunity to capitalize, but somehow we were able to deny them and withstand their push.”
Right wing Brandon Kozun scored giving the Monarchs a 2-0 lead at 6:04 of the second period. Kozun picked up the puck in front of the Bruins bench and skated down right the wing boards breaking away on a two-one-one with left wing David Meckler. Kozun looked to pass the puck but opted to wrist a shot from the right wing face-off circle that sailed passed the glove of Bruins netminder Michael Hutchinson for the eventual game-winning goal and his 11th tally of the season.
The Monarchs opened the scoring with a goal by defenseman David Kolomatis at 3:55 of the second period. Kolomatis picked of a pass by a Bruins defenseman in the Monarchs offensive zone. Kolomatis then skated inside the right wing face-off circle and wristed a shot that bounced off the goaltender’s right pad into the net his fourth goal of the season.
The Bruins cut the score to 2-1 at 18:53 of the third period with a goal by right wing Jamie Tardif. Center Carter Camper took a shot from the left wing face-off circle producing a rebound in front of the net. Tardif banged in the rebound for the goal. Center Ryan Spooner also tallied an assist on the Tardif’s 17th goal of the season.
The Monarchs finished the scoring with an empty net goal by right wing Stefan Legein at 19:21 of the third period. Left wing Marc-Andre Cliche took possession of the puck deep in the Monarchs zone. Cliche played the puck to defenseman Andrew Campbell who broke it out of the zone and passed to Legein along the right wing boards. Legein gained the zone and skated in before finishing it into the open net for his third goal of the season.
Monarchs goaltender Peter Mannino (10-5-0) earned his 10th victory of the season stopping 45-of-46 shots. Hutchinson (4-9-1) took his ninth loss of the season making 24 saves on 26 shots.
Manchester went 0-for-4 on the power play. Providence was 0-for-8 with the man advantage.
Notables: Monarchs center Linden Vey saw his point streak (1-13=14) end at nine games…With a goal in the game, Monarchs right wing Brandon Kozun has two goals and three assists for five points in seven games against the Bruins this season…Monarchs goaltender Peter Mannino made a personal season-high 45 saves in the victory.
The Monarchs are back in action today vs. the Portland Pirates, AHL affiliate of the Phoenix Coyotes.
If you missed Kozun on a recent edition of the MayorsManor show, click here to see what he had to say about his development as an LA Kings prospect, the return of Jordan Nolan to Manchester, his early impressions of a few Monarchs rookies and much more.
