LA Kings prospect Brandon Kozun now has nine goals in his last eight games. Tyler Toffoli continues to lead the way with 27 goals on the season now. And Andy Andreoff posted his first two goal game as a pro. If that’s not enough, try to find the tiny space that Colton Yellow Horn used to score in the shootout. Here are the highlights from Friday’s game between the Manchester Monarchs and St John’s IceCaps:
Game report provided by the Monarchs, LA Kings AHL affiliate…
ST. JOHN’S, NL – The Manchester Monarchs trailed by two goals on three different occasions and tied the game with 43 seconds remaining before defeating the St. John’s IceCaps, 5-4 in a shootout, at the MileOne Centre on Friday night.
Manchester (25-24-3-3) is in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 56 points. St. John’s (23-30-1-3) is in fifth place in the Atlantic Division with 50 points.
“This game covered the spectrum, the good, the bad and the ugly,” said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris. “In the end it was two points. We preserved through moments of disarray and stayed from our systems but to our credit we found a way to take the game to a shootout where Martin Jones stood tall and made stops we needed. The team worked hard. To sweep the weekend, we will have to be better. Both teams will be sharper and more focused after watching video and making adjustments.”
Center Jordan Weal and left wing Colton Yellow Horn scored for the Monarchs in the shootout. Monarchs goaltender Martin Jones denied center Eric O’Dell, center Ben Maxwell, left wing Jason Jaffrey and left wing Carl Klingberg in the shootout. Right wing Brandon Kozun and right wing Tyler Toffoli were denied in the shootout by IceCaps goaltender Eddie Pasquale. Center Kael Mouillierat scored the lone shootout goal for the IceCaps.
The IceCaps opened the scoring on the power play with a goal by center Patrice Cormier at 16:26 of the first period. Mouillierat fed O’Dell on the right wing as the IceCaps gained the Monarchs zone. O’Dell carried the puck to the bottom of the right wing face-off circle before finding Cormier on the left doorstep with a quick pass. Cormier banged it into the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season.
St. John’s opened a 2-0 lead with a power play goal by O’Dell 12 seconds into the second period. Maxwell fed center Aaron Gagnon before he played the puck to O’Dell who gained the Monarchs zone on the right wing. O’Dell skated to the top of the right wing face-off circle before launching a slap shot that beat Jones high on the stick side for his 17th goal of the season.
Kozun scored on the power play for the Monarchs bringing the score to 2-1 at 1:36 of the second period. Weal won a face-off back to defenseman David Kolomatis at the left point. Kolomatis carried the puck to the center point before feeding Kozun at the left point. Kozun skated to the top of the right wing face-off circle before firing a wrist that beat Pasquale for his 20th goal of the season.
The IceCaps regained a two-goal lead at 3-1 with a goal by O’Dell at 3:34 of the second period. Defenseman Cody Sol took a slap shot from the right point that produced a rebound on the right doors step. The loose puck bounced around before ricocheting off the end boards where Mouillierat tracked down the puck and played it to O’Dell in front of the net. O’Dell wristed it midway up on the glove side of Jones for his 18th goal of the season.
The Monarchs brought the score to 3-2 with a shorthanded goal by Toffoli at 13:17 of the second period. Center Linden Vey played the puck off the right wing half wall in the Monarchs zone where Toffoli grabbed it and skated off on a breakaway. Toffoli continued into the slot with speed before wristing a shot high on the glove side of Pasquale for his 27th goal of the season.
Mouillierat tallied another power play goal for the IceCaps making the score 4-2 at 14:21 of the second period. O’Dell took the puck off the left wing half wall before finding Cormier in the slot. Cormier redirected a pass without looking to Mouillierat on the right doorstep. Mouillierat finished the play by burying his seventh goal of the season.
The Monarchs scored on the power play with a strike by center Andy Andreoff at 16:15 of the second period. The IceCaps failed to clear the puck out of their zone before Andreoff grabbed the loose puck in the right wing corner. Andreoff skated into the right wing face-off circle before wristing a shot high on the glove side of Pasquale for his seventh goal of the season.
Andreoff tied the game for the Monarchs with just 43 seconds remaining in the third period with Jones pulled for an extra skater. Kolomatis took a slap shot from the right point producing a rebound in front of Pasquale. Andreoff fought off a defenseman and slammed home the puck for his eighth goal of the season.
Jones (15-19-3) earned his 15th victory of the season of the season stopping 33-of-37 shots in regulation and 4-of-5 shootout attempts. Pasquale (14-19-3) took third shootout loss of the season making 22 saves on 26 shot in regulation and 2-of-4 shootout snipers.
Manchester went 2-for-5 on the power play. IceCaps was 3-for-6 with the man advantage.
Notables: The Monarchs are 5-0-0-0 in St. John’s against the IceCaps dating back to last season…Monarchs center Jordan Weal extended his point streak to four games (2-4=6)…Monarchs right wing Brandon Kozun has nine goals in his last eight games.
The Monarchs and IceCaps will play their final game of their season series later today.
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, Jordan Nolan playing in Manchester during the lockout, his impressions of a few Monarchs rookies and much more.
Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or interviews from this site please include a link to www.MayorsManor.com
