WILKES-BARRE, PA – The Manchester Monarchs dropped their first game after the AHL All-Star break, 4-1, to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza on Friday night.
Manchester (21-20-2-2) is tied with the Worcester Sharks (20-17-1-5) for third place in the Atlantic Division with 46 points each. The Penguins (22-18-2-1) are in third place in the East Division with 47 points.
“We played very solid hockey in the first period,” said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris. “Our execution was decent and we had some great opportunities. Zatkoff made some great saves and he was also fortunate on several goalmouth scrambles. Had we scored it might have given us a boost of confidence and changed the outcome. In the second period, we made some costly mistakes which ultimately put us in a deep hole and we were unable to recover from them. By the end of the game, we found our legs. It was too little too late. It’s back to the drawing board. It is time to regroup and refocus to take on Hershey.”
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton took a 2-0 lead with a goal by center Trevor Smith at 18:43 of the second period. Smith caused a turnover behind the Monarchs net and gained control of the puck before taking a backhand shot at the left doorstep. Smith’s shot produced a rebound. Smith grabbed his own rebound and lifted a wrist shot midway up on the stick of Monarchs goaltender Peter Mannino for the eventual game-winning goal and his 12th goal of the season.
The Penguins opened the scoring with defenseman Joe Morrow at 9:01 of the first period. Center Adam Payerl played the puck from the right wing circle to defenseman Brian Dumoulin at the right point. Dumoulin
