The Manchester Monarchs and Adirondack Thunder have battled all season, and it’s only fitting that they meet in the first round of the Kelly Cup playoffs. The first ECHL playoff game for the former Calder Cup champions though did not go as planned. The Monarchs fell to the Thunder 3-2, and the Thunder took a 1-0 series lead in their best-of-seven quarterfinal series.
Doug Carr started in net for the Monarchs, opposed by Ken Appleby for the Thunder. The Thunder set the tone early in the game, scoring just 43-seconds into the first period. Michael Kirkpatrick scored for the Thunder assisted by Greg Wolfe and Mathieu Brodeur.
The Thunder continued to pressure the Monarchs after the goal, testing Carr with early perimeter shots. The Monarchs, however, did a good job of clearing the traffic out from the front of the net. The Monarchs were even able to get chances on Appleby, but he swallowed up everything that was sent his way.
As the period went on both teams struggled to gain their respective offensive zones. Both teams continued to trade chances with neither team being able to find the back of the net. The first period ended with the Thunder leading 1-0 and the shots 10-7 in favor of the Monarchs.
The second period wasn’t much better for the Monarchs, who couldn’t match the way the Thunder came out of the locker room. The Thunder were all over the Monarchs in the early part of the Second and Carr was forced to come up big for them. The Monarchs chipped away at the Thunder’s defense, but couldn’t do much more than take shots from the outside.
The Monarchs showed some life as the period continued, but couldn’t get anything past Appleby, who seemed to be on the top of his game. Meanwhile, the Thunder continued to pound away at Carr, who seemed left out to dry for much of the second period. The Monarchs defense could do nothing to stop the multiple rushes on Carr.
The Monarchs seemed frustrated with their lack of life, and started running around trying to create something. This led to Mark Antoine taking a slashing minor, giving the Thunder a power play with just over five minutes left in the second. Greg Wolfe scored on the power play for the Thunder assisted by Peter MacArthur and Ryan Constant.
The Monarchs had no answer for the Thunder at the end of the second period and couldn’t find the back of the net. The second period ended with the Monarchs trailing 2-0 and the shots 21 to 17 for the Thunder.
The Monarchs finally woke up as they came back out for the third period.
The Monarchs seemed to be flying around the ice as they came back out for the third period. Anthoine got the Monarchs on the board, assisted by Maxim Kitsyn and Gasper Kopitar. Just 31-seconds later, Zac Larraza scored to tie the game, with Derek Arnold and Adam Paquette picking up the assists on the tying goal.
The Monarchs were all over the Thunder for much of the third, but after allowing two goals, Appleby went into shut down mode. The more chances the Monarchs got, the more saves Appleby made. As the third period continued, both teams came back to more of an even playing field.
They continued to trade chances back and forth, with neither team able to find the back of the net. With just over two minutes left in the game, the Thunder struck again off the stick of Greg Wolfe. Ryan Lomberg and Michael Kirkpatrick got the assists on the go-ahead goal for the Thunder.
The Monarchs couldn’t find the back of the net in the final minutes of the game and fell 3-2. The final shots were 27-25 for the Monarchs, who dropped their first playoff game in the ECHL.
Third star Mark Anthoine, he scored the first goal of the game for the Monarchs and helped them get back into the game. Second star Zac Larraza, he tied the game for the Monarchs in the third period. First star Greg Wolfe, he factored into all the Thunder goals with two of his own and an assist.
The Monarchs will look to bounce back and tie the series on Saturday night at the Verizon center.
Contact the writer: James.McGowan@prohockeynews.com
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