Monarchs Fall Out Of Falcons' Nest
Hersley scores first goal as a Monarch; Manchester three points out of playoff spot
SPRINGFIELD, MA – Left wing Rob Schremp scored while on a 5-on-3 power play for the Springfield Falcons in their 4-3 win over the Manchester Monarchs in front of 2,138 fans at the MassMutual Center on Wednesday night.
Manchester (30-29-5-4) is in fifth place in the Atlantic Division with 69 points. Springfield (31-27-5-5) remains in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 72 points.
Schremp and the Falcons took advantage of a five-on-three power play to score the go ahead goal with 11:15 remaining in the final frame. Left wing Viacheslav Trukhno went tape-to-tape with left wing Grant Potulny at the left face-off circle. Potunly found the uncontested Schremp at the right doorstep of goaltender Jonathan Quick. Schremp teed up a one timer that went into the top left corner of the net giving the Falcons a 4-1 lead. The Monarchs made a last minute rally scoring two goals in under five minutes but were unable to prevail.
With center Brady Murray in the box for tripping the Falcons took advantage of their first power play opportunity at 3:42 of the opening frame. Schremp battled to keep the puck in the zone and sent the disk along the boards behind the net. Trukhno was on the backside of Quick to control the puck for Springfield. Trukhno threw the puck out in front of the net and found the skate of defenseman Patrik Hersley to redirect the disk five-hole past Quick to give the Falcons an early 1-0 lead.
On their 5th power play of the first period left wing Jacob Micflikier connected with right wing Stephen Werner to increase the Falcons lead to two. Murray was sent into the locker room with a game misconduct for intent to injure putting the Monarchs a man down for five minutes. Micflikier skated along the left wing wall and sent a perfect pass putting it on the tape of Werner as he neared the crease and redirected the puck over Quick's glove side and into the net. Goaltender Jeff Deslauriers was awarded the secondary assist on the goal at the 13:54 mark.
The Monarchs had the man advantage and jumped on the scoreboard with Hersley's first goal in the AHL at 2:06 into the middle frame. Defenseman Jeff Likens sent a pass from behind the net to center Trevor Lewis at the top of the right face-off circle. Lewis immediately forwarded the disk to Hersley at the top of the left face-off circle who was able to un-tap a bullet, beating Deslauriers to cut Springfield's lead in half 2-1.
Center Tim Sestito and center Jonas Almtorp brought the Falcons lead back to two with the first even strength goal of the game with 9:40 off the clock. Almtorp cleared the puck into the neutral zone where Sestito corralled the biscuit and skated in over the blue line. Sestito went along the right wing boards and ripped off a snap shot which raced past Quick's stick for the point.
Not to be outdone the Monarchs mounted a comeback with their second power play goal of the night at the 15:15 mark of the third period. Defenseman P.J. Atherton was in the high slot and took the shot on net which was saved initially by Deslauriers' pads but allowed a rebound that squirted just to the right side of the crease. Left wing Matt Moulson reached back with his stick to flip in the puck into the net for a score of 4-2. Right wing Teddy Purcell also was awarded an assist on Moulson's 25th goal of the season.
Exactly two minutes later Purcell and Moulson connected with center Brian Boyle to bring the Monarchs back within one. Purcell and Moulson were involved in a scrum in front of the net with Springfield defensemen in attempt to punch the puck into the net. The saucer ended up sliding out to the left of Deslauriers and onto Boyle's stick where he was able to push the puck passed an unaware netminder for the final score of 4-3.
Quick took the loss, stopping 26-of-30 shots faced. Deslauriers earned the win, denying 39 of 42 shots.
Manchester went 3-for-11 on the power play. Springfield was 3-for-9 on the man advantage.
The Manchester Monarchs head north to face off against the Portland Pirates at the Cumberland County Civic Center on Saturday, March 22 at 7:05 P.M. Catch all of the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail on the Monarchs Radio Network WGIR-AM 610 and at
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Monarchs Fall Out Of Falcons' Nest 
