AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Monarchs Pull Away from Penguins to Take 2-0 Series Lead

Published on May 7, 2015 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


MANCHESTER, N.H. - Brian O'Neill and Jordan Weal each potted a pair of goals to lift the Manchester Monarchs to a 5-2 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Thursday at Verizon Wireless Arena and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semifinal.

Manchester was ahead by a score of 1-0 in the second period until a flurry of three goals over a span of 23 seconds would see the Penguins ultimately even the score. With Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on the power play, Andrew Ebbett found Conor Sheary between the harshmarks for a one-timer that was partially stopped by Monarchs goalie Jean-Francois Berube before trickling across the goal line at 12:28.

Ten seconds later, the Monarchs went on top, 2-1, when Justin Auger was allowed to skate in untouched from the far wall of the Penguins zone and tuck a forehand shot under the pads of goaltender Matt Murray.

It took only an additional 14 seconds for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to pull even for a second time as Tom Kuhnhackl led a 2-on-1 rush down the left side and sent the puck across the Manchester crease that Dominik Uher was able to knock in with a backhand.

O'Neill and Weal combined to give the Monarchs the lead for good with 2:57 remaining until the second intermission. Controlling the puck near the right point, O'Neill fired a backdoor pass to Weal, who quickly snapped a shot to the near corner of the net to make it a 3-2 edge for Manchester.

Weal struck again at 5:24 of the third, banging in a rebound during a 5-on-4 man advantage to build a two-goal cushion for the home team.

O'Neill added an empty net goal with 2:03 left in regulation to complete the scoring.

For the second straight game in the series, it was the Monarchs going ahead, 1-0. Taking a pass out of the left corner of the Penguins zone from Michael Mersch, O'Neill stickhandled to the front of the net and snapped a shot inside the near post at 9:28 of the first.

Murray stopped 29 of 33 shots in the loss for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. It was the first time that the Penguins goalie dropped consecutive starts since Dec. 19 and 27, 2014.

Berube won his 11th straight game at home, saving 18-of-20 for the Monarchs.

The Eastern Conference Semifinal series shifts to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for Game 3 between the Penguins and Monarchs on Saturday, May 9 at 7:05 p.m. Children 14 and under get in free with a paid adult ticket.

Individual tickets for all home playoff games are on sale now and available at the Mohegan Sun Arena Box Office, by calling the Penguins at 570-208-7367.

Check out the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from May 7, 2015


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