Game report provided by the Monarchs, LA Kings’ AHL affiliate…
MANCHESTER, NH – The Manchester Monarchs took a 3-0 first period lead and held on for a 4-3 victory over the Hershey Bears at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday night.
Manchester (34-31-3-4) is in third place in the Atlantic Division with 75 points. Hershey (33-30-3-6) is in fifth place in the East Division with 75 points.
“I liked the way we played tonight,” said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris. “We came out strong and grabbed three goals in the first period. They came back hard in the second period. Martin Jones was good in the third and we held on. It was a little chaotic but a win is a win.”
Manchester took the lead for good at 4-2 with a goal by left wing Hunter Bishop at 11:34 of the middle stanza. Left wing David Meckler took a feed from bishop in the left wing corner. Bishop skated into the high slot and received a pass from Meckler. Bishop took a quick wrist shot that beat Bears netminder Dany Sabourin low on the right pad for the goal. Right wing Scott Sabourin also recorded an assist on Bishop’s third goal of the season.
The Monarchs opened the scoring at 8:05 of the first period with a goal by center Andy Andreoff. Center Linden Vey passed the puck from the right point to defenseman Vincent LoVerde at the center point. LoVerde fed defenseman Derek Forbort at the left point for a one-timer. Forbort’s one-timer was tipped by Andreoff for his 11th goal of the season.
Defenseman Chris Huxley gave the Monarchs a 2-0 lead with a goal at 9:21 of the first period. Left wing Colton Yellow Horn took the puck out of the left wing corner and up the left wing boards before sending a pass to right wing Brandon Kozun in the left wing corner. Kozun spotted Huxley at the center point with a hard pass. Huxley settled the puck and took a slap shot beating Sabourin high over the stick side for his first American Hockey League goal.
Manchester opened up a 3-0 first period lead with a goal by Andreoff. Vey grabbed a loose puck off the right wing half wall of the Bears zone and fed Andreoff at the top of the right wing face-off circle. Andreoff took a wrist shot that Sabourin denied producing a rebound in front of the net. Andreoff got his own rebound and backhanded it past Sabourin for his 12th goal of the season.
Hershey cut the Monarchs lead to 3-1 with a goal by right wing Joey Crabb at 3:38 of the second period. Center Ryan Potulny took a feed from right wing Casey Wellman in the left wing face-off circle. Potulny spun around releasing a wrist shot. Monarchs goaltender Martin Jones denied the shot attempt producing a rebound on the left doorstep. Crabb picked up the loose puck and roofed a shot over the stick side shoulder of Jones for his third goal of the season.
Defenseman Nate Schmidt scored a goal at 6:29 of the second period to cut the Monarchs lead to 3-2. Left wing Boyd Kane fed Schmidt at the right point. Schmidt one-timed the pass that hit Jones in the shoulder, bounced up in the air and trickled into the back of the net for the goal. Wellman also recorded an assist on Schmidt’s first goal of the season.
Hershey brought the score to within a goal again at 4-3 with a goal by defenseman Julien Brouillette at 15:12 of the second period. Center Jeff Taffe possessed the puck around the back of the Monarchs net and out to the right wing face-off circle before finding Brouillette in the left wing face-off circle. Brouillette took a wrist shot that beat Jones high over the stick side shoulder for the goal. Crabb also assisted on Brouillette’s second goal of the season.
Jones (24-25-4) earned his 24th victory of the season stopping 37-of-40 shots. Sabourin (9-13-2) took his 13th loss of the season making 17 saves on 21 shots.
Manchester went 0-for-1 on the power play. Hershey was 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
Notables: Monarchs center Jordan Weal saw his four-game point streak (4-2=6) snapped in the victory…Monarchs defenseman Derek Forbort tallied his first professional point, an assist, in the game…Monarchs right wing Scott Sabourin made his professional debut and tallied his first professional point, an assist on left wing Hunter Bishop’s game-winning goal…Monarchs defenseman David Kolomatis appeared in his 250th AHL game.
The Monarchs will conclude a three-game homestand with an afternoon game on Sunday against the Worcester Sharks. It will be their final home game of the regular season, as all three of next week’s games are on the road.
To see where Forbort, Jones and other LA prospects were slotted in the most recent edition of the Kings Top 10 Prospect Rankings, click here.
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