MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Monarchs were looking for redemption as they took the ice on Friday night in front 5,933 of their home town faithful. But again, a slow start forced the Monarchs to play catch-up the entire night. The Thunder were the better team for most of the game, and that lead to them taking a 2-0 series lead after winning 4-3 in overtime.
Doug Carr started in net for the Monarchs, opposed by Ken Appleby in net for the Thunder. The Monarchs got off to a fast start as they were all over the Thunder right off the opening face-off. Maxim Kitsyn scored to put the Monarchs ahead just over a minute into the game.
Joey Diamond provided the beautiful cross-crease pass for the goal, and Alex Roach got the secondary assist on the goal. But the Monarchs defense struggled to hold off the numerous odd man rushes by the Thunder. Michael Kirkpatrick rifled the tying goal past Carr; Greg Wolfe got the lone assist on the goal at 12:47.
The Thunder were not done there, as they continued to take odd man rushes as the Monarchs defense struggled to contain the speedy Thunder forwards.
Carr made a miraculous diving save with his blocker, but Mitchell Heard was right there to put the loose puck past him to take the lead at 15:23. Joe Faust and Peter MacArthur got the assist on the goal that helped the Thunder take the lead.
The best chance for the Monarchs came on the power play as Joey Diamond dangled Appleby out of the crease, but his backhand hit the post. After one period it was the Thunder two and the Monarchs one, with the shots 11-9 Thunder.
The Monarchs looked to come out stronger in the second period, but that didn’t happen as planned. The Thunder owned the Monarchs right off the opening draw, attacking Carr with little resistance. The Monarchs grew increasingly frustrated as the first few minutes ticked away and started taking penalties.
Carr was able to bail them out, over and over, each time they took a poor penalty. The Thunder continued to pound the Monarchs defense with rushes, but it was Carr who kept the game close. As the period continued it became more apparent that Carr’s eyes were being taken away with traffic.
And without any defenseman to push those players out, the Thunder continued to get quality chances. The Monarchs showed a little bit of life in the final minutes of the second, hitting the post twice on Appleby, but couldn’t find the back of the net. The second period ended with the Monarchs still trailing 2-1 and the shots 16-13 for the Thunder.
The Monarchs came out flat again in the third period and struggled early on to find any sort of offense. Dannick Paquette looked like a one-man wrecking crew, running over every Thunder player in sight. Paquette was the only Monarch early on that looked like he had any energy.
But as the third period wore on it was Paquette’s physicality that got him thrown out of the game. He leveled Patch Alber with a huge shoulder to chest hit, and as Alber lay on the ice, Paquette was being escorted out of the building. The Thunder got a five minute power play on top of the 21-seconds still left on a Josh Brown slash.
After killing off both penalties, the Monarchs seemed like they had finally found their legs. Captain Matt Fornataro led the charge, crashing the net with every opportunity. Zac Larraza finally broke through for the Monarchs, tapping in a Fornataro pass, Matt Leitner got the secondary assist on the tying goal.
Just over a minute later the Monarchs struck again. This time it was Troy Power scoring, assisted by Fornataro and Yann Sauve. The goal gave the Monarchs their first lead since the opening period and made the home town faithful erupt. But two minutes later, Wolfe, who has been outstanding so far in the series, tied the game.
Wolfe fired a bomb from the point that beat Carr high over his glove, Michael Kirkpatrick got the assist on the goal. Both teams continued to press as time continued to tick off the clock, but neither team could find the back of the net.
The third period ended tied 3-3 and the shots 25-24 for the Thunder, this one would require extra time.
The overtime period featured more back and forth action for both teams. The Monarchs controlled the early few minutes of overtime, but failed to get shots through traffic. The Thunder struck back with a few odd man rushes, but Carr was able to keep the Monarchs in the game.
Peter MacArthur killed the Monarchs’ hopes, scoring on Carr to win the game. The game winner was assisted by Mitchell Heard and Ben Johnson. With the victory the Thunder take a 2-0 lead on the series.
Three Stars of the Game:
Third star Troy Power, he scored the goal that gave the Monarchs the lead in the third. Second star Matt Fornataro, the captain led the charge setting up both of the games crucial goals.
First star Peter MacArthur, he put the dagger through Monarchs fans hearts as he scored the game winner.
Game three will be tomorrow night at the Civic Center in Glens Falls, N.Y.
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