ST. JOHN’S, NFLD – The Newfoundland Growlers got revenge in game two and are heading to Manchester with a 1-1 series split in the North Division Finals after doubling up on the Manchester Monarchs 4-2 Saturday night at Mile One Centre.
The Monarchs struck first for the second night in a row, as Craig Wyszomirski fired a point shot through traffic off a Monarchs faceoff win and past Michael Garteig at 5:11 of the opening period to give Manchester an early 1-0 lead.
Josh Kestner replied just 2:36 later, firing a point blast of his own through traffic on the power play to tie the game at 1-1.
Zach O’Brien looked to break the tie with 6:49 to play in the second period on a penalty shot attempt but was denied by Charles Williams to preserve the 1-1 score.
The 1-1 score held up until the 12:47 mark of the third period when Brady Ferguson cleaned up a scramble in front of the Monarchs net and tucked one underneath the crossbar on the power play giving the Growlers their first lead of the game.
The lead didn’t last long however, as Pavel Jenys re-directed a shot past Garteig just 55 seconds later to even the score at 2-2.
O’Brien broke the tie with 1:29 left in the game, one-timing a blast up and over the blocker of Williams to give the Growlers a late 3-2 lead.
Manchester pulled their goaltender on the ensuing faceoff for an extra attacker, but it didn’t pay off as Derian Plouffe fired the puck into an empty cage for a 4-2 final score.
Quick Hits: Eamon McAdam was re-assigned to the Growlers by the Toronto Marlies earlier this afternoon and served as backup… Derian Plouffe netted his first career playoff goal… The three stars were 3 – B. Ferguson (NFL), 2 – J. Kestner (NFL) and 1 – Z. O’Brien (NFL)
What’s Next: The series switches to Manchester for game three Tuesday night at the SNHU Arena. Puck drop is 8:30 p.m. Newfoundland time (7 p.m. Eastern time).
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