The Manchester Monarchs opened their season with a 3-1 victory over the Providence Bruins. Today they’ll square off against the Albany Devils in their home opener.
The Monarchs began their first regular season game slowly, being out-shot in the early going and trailing by one until late in the second period. Thanks to goals by Loktionov (SH), Andreoff (PP), and Vey (EV), they pulled off a win against Providence despite being outshot 30-21. Today they’ll no doubt be looking to control more of the play.
The roster of the Albany Devils boasts several players with substantial NHL experience, including a few familiar faces from their deep playoff run. Adam Henrique and Jacob Josefson played key minutes in the Stanley Cup Final, and stud rookie defenseman Adam Larsson was also sent down to the farm.
This was yesterday’s lineup for the Monarchs:
Clune-Andreoff-Legein
Kozun-Loktionov-Nolan
Cliche-Vey-Toffoli
Pearson-Weal-O’Neill
Bodnarchuk-Voynov
Muzzin-Campbell
Hickey-Deslauriers
Jones
- Last night’s scratches were Kolomatis, Prokhorkin, Czarnik, Meckler, Johnson, and Mannino. I’d expect some fresh legs to be put in today.
- Nolan left the game after his fight with Robins.
- Prokhorkin may have been scratched because his KHL contract issue isn’t yet resolved. Read more on that dispute here.
- Loktionov was the best forward on the ice, and the deserving first star./
Video: It doesn’t look like anyone is streaming the game for free today, but games may be purchased at the AHL Live website.
Radio: Manchester Monarchs Audio. You can listen in and wait for highlights of the game later.
If you missed last night’s game, you’ll want to watch the highlights just for the pleasure of seeing Loktionov’s stellar shorthanded goal. What a beauty. Two P-Bruins are severely embarrassed.
I’ll have some period by period updates here. Go Monarchs!
First Period:
- It’s Keith Kincaid versus Martin Jones in net.
- Albany scores first. Bad bounce for Jones. Wiseman from Urbom and Hrabarenka.
- The next shift Prokhorkin had a great breakaway chance and drew a hooking penalty. David Kolomatis scores 15 seconds into the PP.
- Kolomatis blasts in another power play goal at 14:10 (Kozun, Prokhorkin). Whee./
Shots: Monarchs 10, Devils 6. Devils will begin the second period still on the PP.
Second Period: Monarchs 2, Devils 1
- Some good saves by Jones, though the Devils’ Burlon missed a wide open net.
- Clune got a bogus diving penalty and went at it with Kelly when he got out of the box. I wouldn’t want to mess with the Clunatic.
- Monarchs kill all their penalties. Shots 22-14 Monarchs at the end of the period./
Third Period: Monarchs 2, Devils 1 (FINAL)
- The Monarchs had to kill some more penalties, including two in a row for Voynov. Lots of exciting back and forth action. Jones kept busy.
Loktionov and Cliche are fun to watch on the PK. Lokti generated a 2 on 1 shorthanded and tried to shoot between Kincaid’s legs. - Cliche followed that up with a shorthanded breakaway. The Devils were forced to haul him down.
- That Leach guy is quite a pest. I hope the Monarchs knock him down some more in their many, many division matches.
- I thought the line with Loktionov, Prokhorkin, and Kozun was very effective.
Kolomatis was the 1st star, Jones the #3. Though outshot in the third, Monarchs still had the edge (27-22)./
The unbeaten Monarchs won’t have their next game until Friday the 19th, their home opener. When highlights and recaps are up, we’ll keep you posted.