GLENS FALLS, NY – The Manchester Monarchs traveled to Glens Falls on Saturday to take on the Adirondack Thunder. When all was said and done, it was the Thunder who came away with a convincing 6-1 win over the Monarchs.
The first period started with both teams trying to get their legs back under them. They traded chances very early into the first, but neither team could find a solid hold in their offensive zone. The Thunder found that hold first, and converted on an early shot by Mike Bergin that beat Manchester goalie Cedrick Desjardins. The goal was assisted by Peter MacArthur and Michael Kirkpatrick.
The Thunder found the back of the net again just over three minutes later. This time it was Greg Wolfe who scored, assisted by MacArthur and Kirkpatrick. The Thunder dominated the Monarchs forcing Desjardins to come up with a few key saves.
All the Monarchs were able to muster were outside chances against Adirondack goalie Drew Fielding in the first. With just under a minute to play the Thunder struck again. Mitchell Heard picked off a Monarchs clearing pass and snuck it past Desjardins for the 3-0 lead. The first period ended with the Monarchs trailing by that same score and the shots 9-3 in favor of the Thunder.
The Monarchs came back out for the second period looking to find some sort of offense. They went back and forth in the early stages of the period, but the score remained the same. The Monarchs were starting to play better, but Fielding was playing great. As the game wore on, tempers started to flare and the game got more and more chippy.
The Thunder found the back of the net again with just over six minutes left in the second. Jeff Silengo scored assisted by Heard and Ben Johnson. The second period ended with the Thunder leading 4-0 and the shots favoring the Thunder 18-14.
The Monarchs came back out for the third period looking for find some sort of offense. Colin Stevens took over for Desjardins for the third with Stevens looking to help stabilize the loose Monarchs defense. Unfortunately it only took 1:20 for the Thunder to extend their lead to five when Heard scored his second goal of the game assisted by Silengo and Mathieu Brodeur.
When Ryan Culkin went off for tripping and 48 seconds later Broduer was given two minutes for delay of game, it gave the Monarchs a 5-on-3 power play. The Monarchs converted on the first power play to break the shutout. Stefan Legein scored assisted by David Kolomatis and Darik Angeli.
The Monarchs continued to improve as the game went on, but couldn’t get anything going offensively. Sailing pushed the lead back to five assisted by Heard. The Monarchs continued to try and find the back of net, but were just no match for the Thunder. The Thunder beat the Monarchs 6-1, with the final shots 31-27 in favor of the Thunder.
Third star in the game went to Adirondack’s Heard with two goals and two assists for the Thunder. Second star was awarded to Thunder goalie Fielding who stopped 26 of 27 shots to earn the win. First star was given to Silengo who had two goals and an assist to help the Thunder to victory.
The Monarchs will look to get back into the win column when the take on the Thunder at the Verizon Wireless Center on Sunday afternoon.
Contact the author at james.mcgowan@prohockeynews.com
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