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Manchester, NH — The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ run of positive results came to an abrupt halt, courtesy of the Manchester Monarchs Friday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
The Eastern Division leading Monarchs scored three times in the opening period and held strong on the way to a 6-3 win over the Pens, who came into the game on a 8-0-1-1 streak.
The Monarchs jumped on board early; getting a go-ahead, unassisted marker from Jordan Weal at 6:44. Less than four minutes later, Manchester’s top scorer Brian O’Neill notched his 19th goal of the season; tapping a shot past Penguins goalie Jeff Zatkoff from the right post. Monarchs left winger Zach O’Brien aided the scoring scenario as he found O’Neill nearly unattended in the low slot before spotting a nicely executed tape-to-tape feed.
Weal, the first star of the game finished with a pair of goals and two assists in the win.
The Penguins halved the Monarchs’ lead with under seven minutes remaining in the period following Scott Harrington’s wrister from the left circle that eluded Monarchs goalie Jean -Francois Berube. Harrington’s goal, his first of the season, capped the Penguins initial power-play chance of the night.
The Penguins finished 2 of 3 with the man advantage in the loss.
Manchester outshot the Penguins 10-4 in the second period. Taylor Chomey’s seventh goal of the season at 18:39, with help from Tom Kuhnhacki and Carter Rowney closed the Monarchs edge to 4-2.
However, Justin Auger’s tip in of a solid drive from the point by Manchester defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk in the waning seconds in the second, put the Penguins in a three-goal shortfall heading into intermission.
Dominik Uher’s goal at 1:58 of the final period gave the Penguins a solid foundation in their hopes of keeping the game within arms reach, but Weal, added his 16th of the year, and the Monarchs played textbook defense in their own zone, allowing them to hold on to the win.
Following Uher’s goal, the Monarchs allowed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton just six shots the remainder of the way. The Penguins did not suffer a regulation loss in the month of February.
The win gave the Monarchs a 3-0-0 season series lead heading into today’s 3 p.m. contest.
Monarchs 6, Penguins 3
W-B/Scranton 1 1 1 – 3
Manchester 3 2 1 – 6
1st Period-1, Manchester, Weal 15 6:44. 2, Manchester, O’Neill 19 (O’Brien, Weal), 10:31. 3, W-B/Scranton, Harrington 1 (Megna, Rowney), 13:27 (PP). 4, Manchester, Miller 15 (O’Neill, Weal), 16:31 (PP). Penalties-Miller Mch (holding), 12:37; Megna Wbs (goaltender interference), 16:03; Payerl Wbs (fighting), 16:32; Bissonnette Mch (fighting), 16:32.
2nd Period-5, Manchester, LoVerde 7 (O’Brien, Dowd), 5:35 (PP). 6, W-B/Scranton, Chorney 4 (Kuhnhackl, Rowney), 18:39 (PP). 7, Manchester, Auger 7 (Bodnarchuk, Dowd), 19:39. Penalties-Farnham Wbs (delay of game), 2:47; Megna Wbs (delay of game), 3:35; Schultz Mch (interference), 14:29; LoVerde Mch (hooking), 17:11.
3rd Period-8, W-B/Scranton, Uher 8 (Rowney, Kuhnhackl), 1:58. 9, Manchester, Weal 16 (Miller), 6:28. Penalties-Archibald Wbs (tripping), 3:20; Archibald Wbs (tripping), 16:17.
Shots on Goal-W-B/Scranton 7-4-7-18. Manchester 10-10-8-28.
Power Play Opportunities-W-B/Scranton 2 / 3; Manchester 2 / 5.
Goalies-W-B/Scranton, Zatkoff 14-11-3 (28 shots-22 saves). Manchester, Berube 26-8-2 (18 shots-15 saves).
A-4,255. Referees-Geno Binda (22). Linesmen-Joe Andrews (32), Alex Stagnone (7).