For the first time since Oct. 18, the Manchester Monarchs are not in first place of the AHL's Atlantic Division following a 3-1 loss to the Adirondack Phantoms at the Glens Falls Civic Center Friday night.
Dwight King scored the lone goal for the Monarchs, who have scored eight goals in the first five of seven straight games on the road. Kevin Westgarth and John Zeiler assisted on King's goal, while Jonathan Bernier made 29 saves.
Since their last home game - a 6-1 win over Hartford on Jan. 24 - Manchester hasn't score more than two goals in a game, going 2-2-0-1 in those five games. In the two wins, Bernier recorded a shutout in both.
In the last 17 games, Manchester has averaged just 2.4 goals a game, recording three or more just five times. During that stretch, the Monarchs are 6-7-1-3.
On Friday, the Phantoms got on the board first just 3:43 into the game on a goal by Mila Pyorala, who directed a shot by Joey Mormina past Bernier for a 1-0 lead. The goal was the first one allowed by Bernier in 152:17, the goalie's second-longest shutout streak of the season. Bernier's longest streak was 160:35 from Oct. 16-30 in 2009.
The Monarchs tied the game on King's goal 5:53 into the second period. Westgarth battled for the puck along the end boards and found King at the left hash mark. King's one-timer beat goalie Johan Backlund for a 1-1 tie.
But with 1:47 left in the second, Jonathan Kalinski broke in alone on Bernier and beat him with a backhander to put Adirondack up 2-1.
Jon Matsumoto added an empty net goal with nine seconds left in the game to finish off Manchester.
With the Monarchs (21-16-2-5) loss and Worcester's win over Lowell on Friday, the Sharks moved one point ahead of Manchester in the Atlantic Division standings.
The Monarchs will try to bounce back Saturday night at 7 p.m. when they head to Connecticut to face the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Manchester plays one more game after that on the road - at Springfield on Feb. 12 - before returning to the Verizon Wireless Arena on Feb. 13 against Syracuse.
Comments