GLENS FALLS, NY –The Manchester Monarchs took Game 1 of the North Division Semi-Finals against the Adirondack Thunder by a score of 4-2, Friday night at the Cool Insuring Arena.
The Monarchs (1-0-0-0) came back from a 2-1 deficit and took the early series lead over the Thunder (0-1-0-0), on the back of 50 saves by Charles Williams.
The Monarchs started the scoring at 2:34 of the first period on the first goal of the playoffs by Pierre-Luc Mercier. Bokondji Imama intercepted a pass at the blue line and found Mercier at the top of the circles, where he fired a wrist shot past the blocker of Thunder goaltender Evan Cormier, making the score 1-0
Adirondack answered at 12:15 of the first period on the first goal of the playoffs by Brian Ward. Ward tipped a Blake Thompson shot from the blue line, that bounced past Monarchs goaltender Williams to tie the game at 1-1.
The Thunder took the lead on the power play at 16:51 of the first period on the first goal of the payoffs by James Henry. Peter MacArthur wristed a shot from the right circle, that deflected off the skate of Henry in front and past Williams, giving the Thunder a 2-1 lead.
Manchester tied the game at 18:33 of the second period on the first goal of the playoffs by Daniil Miromanov. Miromanov blew past a Thunder defenseman into the right circle and picked a corner over the glove of Cormier to make the score 2-2.
Manchester regained their lead at 4:50 of the third period on the first goal of the playoffs for Nic Pierog. Mercier found Pierog inside the right dot, where he placed a perfect wrist shot over the glove of Cormier, giving the Monarchs a 3-2 lead.
The Monarchs took the first two-goal lead of the game on the power play at 9:11 of the third period on the second goal of the game by Miromanov. Stepan Falkovsky filtered a pass to Miromanov at the center of the blue line, where he fired a one-timer past Cormier, giving the Monarchs a 4-2 lead.
Game two of the best-of-seven series is set for Saturday night in Glens Falls.
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