A dominant third period had the Manchester Monarchs swimming in a sea of chocolate as they sank the Hershey Bears, 5-2, in front of 8,373 fans at Giant Center last night.
Manchester (35-30-5-4) extended its fourth-place lead in the Atlantic Division to five points ahead of the fifth place Springfield Falcons (32-31-5-5, 74 points) with 79 points on the season. Hershey (38-30-1-5) is in fourth place in the East Division with 82 points.
Monarchs right wing Teddy Purcell tallied the game-winning goal at 13:26 of the final period. Purcell's 22nd tally of the season came from the right wing boards as left wing Matt Moulson screened netminder Frederic Cassivi. The puck squeezed under Cassivi's right arm to give the Monarchs their fifth win in six games.
Monarchs firm up grip on playoffs (Union Leader) 
