Monarchs Tame Jackals, 4-2
Matt Leitner scored the game-winning-goal to lead the Manchester Monarchs to a 4-2 victory over the Elmira Jackals on Pink in the Rink night at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
MANCHESTER, NH – Matt Leitner scored the game-winning-goal to lead the Manchester Monarchs to a 4-2 victory over the Elmira Jackals on Pink in the Rink night at the Verizon Wireless Arena
The Monarchs (29-13-1-4) are now 4-1-0-0 in the season series with the Jackals (23-21-1-1), and look to take the two-game set tomorrow.
“The crowd was great, and it was a big part of playing well tonight,” Head Coach, Rich Seeley, said. “Having a crowd like that helps to get the guys going, and we were ready to go from the drop of the puck. We had a little bit of a lapse in the second period, but we were able to get back on track to finish the game.”
The Monarchs opened the scoring :33 seconds into the first period, when Alex Guptill netted his 13th tally of the season. Leitner backhanded the puck to Guptill in the slot, where he wristed it past Jackals goaltender, C.J. Motte, high blocker side.
The Monarchs extended their lead at 11:44 in the first period with a power-play-goal from Yann Sauvé. Sauvé scored his 6th goal of the season when he skated in from the red line to the high slot and wristed the puck past Motte, high glove side.
The Jackals bounced back at 16:29 in the second period with Allan McPherson’s 11th goal of the season. Cason Hohmann skated down to the right circle and centered a pass to McPherson for a one-timer past Monarchs goaltender, Colin Stevens.
The Jackals tied the game at 5:14 in the third period on Tyler Currier’s 14th goal of the season. Garrett Klotz found Currier’s stick in the top left circle for a wrister, high glove side, past Stevens.
Matt Leitner regained the lead for the Monarchs at 7:34 in the third period, scoring his 10th goal of the season. Leitner found the loose puck off of a Guptill shot and tapped home a low shot past Motte’s glove.
Maxim Kitsyn finalized the 4-2 victory for the Monarchs at 19:34 in the third with an empty-net-goal from the Monarchs defensive zone.
The Monarchs return to the Verizon Wireless Arena tomorrow afternoon (1 p.m.) against the Elmira Jackals on Super Bowl Sunday.
Notes
- Alex Guptill has goals in three of his last four games
- The Monarchs have scored on the power play in their last four games
- The Monarchs scored their fastest opening goal of the season at :33 seconds
- Maxim Kitsyn has now scored points in 12-of-13 games (8g, 8a)
