Monarchs Fall To Frienemy

Manchester win streak ended at three

Manchester, New Hampshire - Former Manchester Monarchs goaltender and current Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton Penguins netminder Jeff Zatkoff posted his first shutout of the season defeating Manchester , 3-0, at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday night.

Manchester (5-2-0-0) leads the Atlantic Division with 10 points. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (3-5-0-0) are ranked fifth in the East Division with six points.

“(Jeff) Zats was really good and so was (Martin) Jonesy,” said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris .  “They had the puck bouncing their way and I think the penalties in the second period really took a lot out of us.  It zapped our energy.  Zats was real good in the first when we barraged him.  He made a couple real great saves.”


The Penguins opened the scoring on the power play at 3:42 of the second period when left wing Eric Tangradi scored his team leading sixth goal of the season.  Center Trevor Smith took a shot resulting in a loose puck in front of Monarchs goaltender Martin Jones.  Right wing Stefan Legein attempted to clear the puck but Tangradi shot the puck through Jones’ five-hole for the goal. Tangradi’s team-leading sixth goal of the season was the eventual game-winning goal and was also assisted by right wing Benn Ferriero.

The Penguins took a 2-0 lead on the power play at 8:41 in the second period with a goal by defenseman Dylan Reese.  Defenseman Brian Dumoulin fed Reese at the top of the right face-off circle.  Reese wristed a shot that fought through traffic and beat Jones high on the stick side.  Reese’s first goal of the season and was also assisted by center Philippe Dupuis.

Right wing Paul Thompson sealed the game for the Penguins with an empty net goal at 19:19 of the third period.  Center Warren Peters chipped the puck out of the Penguins zone where Thompson chased down the puck along left wing in the neutral zone.  Thompson gained the Monarchs zone along the left wing boards before flipping the puck into the open net from the top of the left wing face-off circle.

Jones (5-2-0) took his second loss of the season making saves on 26-of-28 shots.  Zatkoff (2-4-0) earned his first shutout and second victory of the season making saves on all 33 shots faced.

Notables:  The Monarchs were shutout for the first time since January 4, 2012 when goaltender Kevin Poulin and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers earned a 4-0 shutout win…Right wing Brandon Kozun had a six-game assist and point streak (2-6=8) snapped…Manchester failed to score a power play goal for the first time this season…President Barack Obama won the 2012 Manchester Monarchs Bobble Election over Governor Mitt Romney by 17 bobbleheads.

The Monarchs return to action against the Worcester Sharks at the DCU Center at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 4.  Catch all of the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail online on the Monarchs Radio Network at WTPL The Pulse 107.7 FM, WGIRAM.com and at ManchesterMonarchs.com, presented by Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.