MANCHESTER NH – A five-point night and hat trick from Jordan LaVallee-Smotherman propelled the Manchester Monarchs past the Adirondack Thunder 8-3 Saturday night at SNHU Arena on Boy Scout Night.
The Monarchs (28-15-3-1) evened the season series with the Thunder (26-18-2-2), and now sit 2-2-1-1 against their rival.
The Monarchs opened the scoring at 3:09 of the first period with a power-play goal from Zac Lynch. In the left corner, Michael Doherty hit Lynch with a pass at the top of the left dot where he let a wrister rip past Thunder goaltender Drew Fielding for his 20th goal of the season.
The Monarchs extended their lead when Spencer Watson scored his 13th goal of the season at 7:15 of the first period, to make the score 2-0. LaVallee-Smotherman dragged the puck on his backhand for a shot on the top of crease that Fielding stopped, but Watson put in the rebound low stick side to double the Manchester advantage.
The Thunder cut into the Monarchs lead at 12:04 of the first period on Blake Thompson’s first goal of the season. Andrew Radjenovic found Thompson trailing and hit him with a pass as he was skating into the slot from the right wing. Thompson took the puck to the left hash marks and sent a wrister past the glove of Monarchs goaltender Charles Williams to make it 2-1.
The Monarchs took a two-goal lead at 19:14 of the first period when LaVallee-Smotherman scored his 24th tally of the season. Watson picked up a bouncing puck off the end wall and threw it out front to Matt Marcinew crashing the net for a quick shot. LaVallee-Smotherman found the rebound and pushed the puck five-hole goal on Fielding to increase the Manchester lead.
The Monarchs extended their advantage when LaVallee-Smotherman netted his second goal of the night at 4:33 of the second period to make it 4-1. Martin Nemcik carried the puck to the top of the left circle and found LaVallee-Smotherman skating into the slot where he let go a wrister past Fielding’s glove for his 25th goal of the season.
The Thunder cut their deficit in half with a power-play goal from Terrence Wallin at 8:58 of the second period to make the score 4-2. Dylan Olsen sent a slap shot from the left point that Wallin tipped past Williams for his 14th goal of the season.
The Monarchs extended their lead at 15:16 of the second period when Alexx Privitera recorded his third goal of the season. Marcinew won a face-off to Privitera at the left point, pinched down to the left-wing circle and let a wrister go past the glove of Fielding to make it a 5-2 game.
The Monarchs cushioned the lead when David Kolomatis netted his sixth goal of the season at 1:10 of the third period. LaVallee-Smotherman sent the puck to Kolomatis who carried it to the left-wing circle before firing a wrister past Fielding’s stick, to make the score 6-2.
The Thunder picked up a goal at 7:53 of the third period from Brian Ward. Ward carried the puck to the low right circle and sent a shot over the glove of Williams for his 16th goal of the season.
The Monarchs added to their lead when LaVallee-Smotherman netted his hat-trick goal at 14:17 of the third period. Watson and LaVallee-Smotherman entered the zone on a 2-on-1, and Watson found LaVallee-Smotherman skating down the slot for a one-timer low stick side on Fielding for his 26th goal of the season.
The Monarchs solidified their win on the 15th tally of the season off the stick of Matt Schmalz at 17:10 of the third period. Schmalz found the loose puck in front of Fielding and wrapped it around the left leg of the Thunder goaltender to end the scoring at 8-3.
The Monarchs return to the ice Saturday, February 10th at 6 p.m. when they host the South Carolina Stingrays in a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals on Pink in the Rink.
NOTES: Jordan LaVallee-Smotherman recorded his first hat trick of the season and extended his point streak to three games (5 goals, 6 assists)… Spencer Watson extended his point streak to three games (5 goals, 2 assists)… The Monarchs have scored 23 goals in their last three home games.
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