Monarchs Spooked On Elm Street
Taylor records his first assist in Monarchs 3-2 loss
MANCHESTER, NH – The Philadelphia Phantoms swooped in behind center Jared Ross's two goal performance raising them to a 3-2 victory over the Manchester Monarchs in front of 8,771 fans at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday evening.
Manchester (23-22-4-2) is in fifth place in the Atlantic Division with 52 points. Philadelphia (32-17-1-2) is in first place in the East Division with 67 points.
Ross scored his second goal and the game-winner with a mere minute and 46 seconds left in the second period to give the Phantoms a 3-1 lead and inevitably the 3-2 win over the Monarchs. Right wing Stefan Ruzicka sent a shot off the endboards in the Monarchs zone where a Manchester defenseman collected the puck and attempted to clear the zone. Ross was able to intercept the puck and shoved it in toward goaltender Daniel Taylor for the five-hole goal.
After a calm first period, it only took 29-seconds into the second frame for the Phantoms to put up the first point of the game. Blazing into the Monarchs zone, left wing Denis Tolpeko's initial shot was denied by the chest pads of Taylor. Picking up the rebound was Ross who poked the disk through Taylor's legs only seconds before the net got dislodged.
Striking back on the power play, defenseman Kevin Dallman recorded his first goal of the season in a Monarchs jersey. Taking the pass from netminder Taylor, Dallman traveled coast-to-coast taking a shot from the blueline while on the move. Following his shot in on goaltender Scott Munroe, Dallman fought through two defensemen and was awarded for his efforts by tying the score at one apiece at the 9:46 mark of the second period.
The Phantoms pulled ahead 2-1 at the 13:04 mark of the second period off the stick of defenseman Nate Guenin. Right wing David Laliberte took a shot from the left point which was deflected aside by Taylor. Guenin, turned around by the Monarchs defense, got his stick on the puck and lifted it over Taylor's glove side with a backhand shot. Defenseman Alexandre Picard recorded the secondary assist on the goal.
Goaltender Erik Ersberg replaced Taylor between the pipes at the start of the last frame.
Center David Meckler brought the Monarchs within one and the score to its final tally of 3-2. At 18:38 of the last frame, defenseman Drew Bagnall took a high shot from the left point and before it could reach Munroe, Meckler redirected the puck out of the air and onto the ice below the skates of Munroe for his 14th goal of the season. Right wing Vladimir Dravecky also earned his ninth assist of the season.
Manchester went 1-for-4 on the power play. Philadelphia was 0-for-1 with the man advantage.
Ersberg stopped all six shots he faced in relief while Taylor took the loss stopping 19-of-22 shots. Munroe earned the victory denying 26-of-28 shots.
The Monarchs travel to Rhode Island for a game with the Providence Bruins on Wednesday, February 13 at 7:05 p.m at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. Catch all of the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail on the Monarchs Radio Network WGIR-AM 610 and at
Manchester Monarchs. Watch the game live on B2 Networks for just $6 per game. Log onto
Manchester Monarchs and click on the link to B2 Networks ten minutes prior to the each Monarchs game to watch the game live.
Monarchs Spooked On Elm Street 
