AHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs claim VIP Cup for first time in team history

Published on April 5, 2014 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


MANCHESTER, NH - Center Jordan Weal collected his first professional hat trick to help the Monarchs claim their first VIP Cup trophy, as the Manchester Monarchs came from behind to earn a 4-3 overtime victory over the Portland Pirates at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Manchester (44-19-2-6) leads the Atlantic Division with 96 points. Portland (24-34-3-8) is ranked fifth in the Atlantic Division with 59 points.

"Not the way we drew it up, but its two points," said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris. "Credit to (Patrik) Bartosak for getting his first win and making some big saves for us, and to the team being able to be resilient and find ways to hang in there long enough and pop a couple of goals at the end that gave us a chance to win it. (Jordan Weal's) been working his tail off and he's had a great year so far. I think we've been riding him really hard. He certainly has made our top line by distributing pucks and being able to finish."

Right wing Sean Backman scored the game-winning goal at 3:49 of overtime to give the Monarchs the 4-3 victory. After receiving a pass from left wing Andy Andreoff, Backman wound up and fired a slap shot past Pirates netminder Louis Domingue and into the top right corner of the net. The goal was Backman's ninth tally of the season and sealed the game for the Monarchs.

Left wing Lucas Lessio scored his 24th goal of the season just 27 seconds into the second period to give the Pirates the first lead of the night. On the power play, left wing Jordan Martinook collected the puck behind the Monarchs net and sent a centering pass to Lessio, who was waiting in the slot. Lessio gathered the pass and wristed a shot past Monarchs netminder Patrik Bartosak's stick and into the right side of the net for the 1-0 advantage.

Weal tied the game at 4:05 of the second period. Right wing Zach O'Brien intercepted an attempted clear by a Pirates defenseman and passed the puck ahead to Weal who was skating across the face of the net as he received the pass. Weal slid the puck through Domingue's pads for the five-hole score. The goal was Weal's 19th of the season.

Lessio scored his second goal of the night moments later to give the Pirates the lead once again at 7:22 of the second period. After receiving a pass from right wing Brandon Yip, Lessio sped across the blueline and into Manchester's zone along the left wall before carrying the puck back in front of the net. After drawing Bartosak to his left side, Lessio brought the puck across his body and flipped it over Bartosak's right pad for the 2-1 lead.

Lessio earned his first hat trick of the season with his third goal of the period and 26th tally of the season to give Portland the 3-1 advantage. From the blueline, defenseman John Hanley passed the puck down to left wing Darian Dziurzynski in the left face-off circle. Dziurzynski located Lessio streaking across the ice and sent a centering pass that Lessio was able to get his stick on for a one-timer. The puck flew into the top right corner of the net for the score at 13:22 in the second period.

Weal made it a one-goal game with just over a minute remaining in regulation. After the face-off, Andreoff gathered the puck behind the Portland net. Andreoff passed the puck over to Weal, who wound up for a one-timer from the left face-off circle. The shot sailed above Domingue's glove and into the top right corner of the net for the score. The goal brought the score to 3-2 at 18:17 of the third period.

Weal completed the hat trick with a game-tying power play goal with 31 seconds remaining in the game. After Domingue blocked a shot from forward Michael Mersch, the puck bounced toward the left wall. Weal reached out his stick and collected the rebound before turning and firing a shot back on net. The puck found its way past several bodies and wound up behind Domingue to make it a 3-3 game at 19:29 of the final period of regulation. The goal was Weal's 21st tally of the season.

Bartosak (1-1-0) earned his first win of the season and his professional career, stopping 29-of-32 shots in his first American Hockey League start. Domingue (9-14-2) took his 14th loss of the season, making 23 saves on 27 shots he faced in the game.

Manchester was 1-for-6 on the power play. Portland also went 1-for-6 with the man advantage.

Notables: The Monarchs improved their record to 7-3-0-0 against the Portland Pirates to claim their first VIP Cup trophy in team history...Center Jordan Weal collected his first career hat trick...Weal's hat trick and Pirates left wing Lucas Lessio's three goals combined for the first time two hat tricks have been scored in a single Monarchs game...Rookie goaltender Patrik Bortasak earned the first professional win of his career...Forward Michael Mersch collected his first professional point, an assist.

The Monarchs will battle with the Worcester Sharks at 3:00 p.m. at the DCU Center on Sunday, April 6. Catch all of the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail on Monarchs Radio Network WGIR AM 610, WGIRAM.com, and at manchestermonarchs.com presented by Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

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