MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Manchester Monarchs took on the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on Saturday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester. Cedrick Desjardins got the start on net for the Monarchs opposed by Allen York for the Swamp Rabbits. The Monarchs looked to take the second game of the series against the Swamp Rabbits with a win on Saturday.
The two teams struggled early in the game to get good scoring chances, but they were able to get outside shots. The two teams traded rushes back and forth, forcing both Desjardins and York to make some of their best saves of the day. The Monarchs were looking to find a consistent scoring attack, but couldn’t get past the Swamp Rabbits defense.
The Swamp Rabbits started to heat up as the period wore on, and forced the Monarchs defense to stay trapped in their own zone. With just under three minutes to go, Charlie Dodero scored for Greenville, assisted by Joey Holka and Jordan Knackstedt. The first period ended with the Monarchs trailing 1-0 and the shots 11-8 for Greenville.
The Swamp Rabbits picked right up where they left off in the first, as they returned for the second period. The Swamp Rabbits came out firing and the Monarchs defense had no answers, but Doug Carr, who came in to replace Desjardins, did. He was able to steer all of the Swamp Rabbits early shots away to keep the Monarchs down by one.
Manchester started to find their game offensively, and were challenging York with quality opportunities. The two teams went back and forth with both trading their opportunities and looking to score. But with the period winding down again, Darian Nejezchleb scored  for the Swamp Rabbits, assisted by Bretton Cameron and Scott Fleming.
The second period ended with the Swamp Rabbits leading 2-0 and out-shooting the Monarchs 31-21. The Monarchs were looking for a spark to break through York as they came back out for the third period. It didn’t take them long to find that spark as Gasper Kopitar broke through, assisted by Yann Sauve and Joey Diamond.
The Monarchs were all over the Swamp Rabbits in the third period, trapping them in their own zone and dominating the play. The Monarchs were all over them looking to find the tying goal, but York stayed strong for the Swamp Rabbits. As the game wore on the Monarchs pressed harder, but York became stronger and stronger.
Matt Leitner was able to sneak one past York to tie the game, Sauve and Josh Brown got the assists. The third period ended with the score tied 2-2 and the shots 38 to 36 for the Monarchs. The Monarchs picked up right where they left off in overtime, pounding away on York and the Greenville defense.
But like the rest of the game York stayed strong for the Swamp Rabbits, and keep the Monarchs off of the Scoreboard. Overtime ended in a tie and it was time for a shootout in Manchester. The Swamp Rabbits won in a shootout with the final score 3-2 and the final shots 44-39 for the Monarchs.
Third star Doug Carr stopped 27-of-28 shots that he saw in relief of Desjardins for the Monarchs. Second Star Darian Dziurzynski scored the first goal in the game and was a big part of the Swamp Rabbits’ victory. First star Scott Flemming scored the game winner in the shootout and had an assist in the game.
The Monarchs will look to get their revenge on the Swamp Rabbits when they meet again in matinee action on Sunday afternoon at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
Contact the writer at James. McGowan@prohockeynews.com
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