ECHL Manchester Monarchs

Monarchs Weekly Preview

Published on March 28, 2016 under ECHL (ECHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release


Manchester Monarchs vs. the Toledo Walleye
Manchester Monarchs vs. the Toledo Walleye
(Manchester Monarchs)

WEEK IN REVIEW

The Monarchs played three games this past week, and despite coming out with a 1-2-0-0 record, clinched their first ECHL playoff berth, and eighth consecutive playoff berth as a franchise. In the 15-year history of the franchise, the Monarchs have not had a losing season, and only missed the playoffs once, coming at the end of the 2008-09 season.

Wednesday, the Monarchs hosted the Brampton Beast and fell, 4-2. Maxim Kitsyn netted two goals, but three consecutive Brampton tallies sunk the Monarchs after Kitsyn's second goal of the night.

Friday night, the Monarchs traveled to Reading to take on the Royals, but Reading spoiled the visit, taking Manchester down, 4-3. The Monarchs couldn't hold a pair of two goal leads, and spoiled a two-goal night from the recently assigned, Steven Hodges, and the 17th goal of the season by Zac Larraza.

All was not lost for the week, as the Monarchs bounced back Saturday evening in a big way, blanking the Adirondack Thunder, 3-0, solidifying their playoff position, and inching closer to the East Division crown. The Monarchs grabbed goals from Mark Anthoine, Matt Fornataro and Kevin Morris, but the story of the night was goaltender, Doug Carr, who stopped all 30 shots sent in his direction, including a penalty shot mid-way through the 3rd period, for his 1st shutout of the season.

PLAYOFF PICTURE

The Monarchs (85 points) begin the week leading the East Division by nine points over Adirondack, and trail the Walleye by six points in the conference. The Monarchs look to clinch the East Division and a guaranteed top-3 spot in the playoffs this week, as their magic number to clinch is four points over the Thunder. The Monarchs still have a chance at the best record in the Eastern Conference, but need to start with sweeping the weekend.

LEADING THE WAY

Maxim Kitsyn continues to lead the way for the Monarchs with 51 points on 26 goals and 25 assists. Joey Diamond sits in second on the Monarchs scoring list with 45 points (18g, 27a) and Gasper Kopitar finds himself in third with 30 points (8g, 22a).

BEAST OF THE EAST

The Monarchs take on the Toledo Walleye for the fifth and final time during the regular season, with the teams splitting the first four meetings. Manchester is 2-1-0-0 on home ice against Toledo, but the Walleye took the only meeting between the teams at the Huntington Center. The teams have played each other tough, with both teams scoring 13 goals each in the four games. Toledo has earned the most home victories in the Eastern Conference (24), and their eight home losses are tied for the third-fewest in the ECHL. Former Monarchs goaltender, Jeff Lerg, sits in fifth place in the league with a 2.11 GAA, and his 0.928 save % is tied for second in the league.

NAILING IT DOWN

Manchester and Wheeling will play for only the second time all season, with the Monarchs taking the first meeting at the Jungle, 6-2, on Valentine's Day. The matchup between the two teams could become a familiar one, because if the season ended today, these two teams would face-off in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. The Nailers currently hold a 16-13-2-2 record at WesBanco Arena, and have gone 5-2-2-1 in their last 10 games. Wheeling has been paced by Riley Brace, who sits 5th in ECHL scoring with 61 points (25g, 36a).

CAREER YEAR

Maxim Kitsyn has progressed in each of his three seasons in the L.A. Kings organization, producing his best overall campaign this season for the Monarchs. In 61 games, Kitsyn has tied his career high with 26 goals, set a career high with 25 assists, leads the ECHL with a +36 rating, and is 3rd in the league with 215 shots on goal. The native of Novokuznetsk, Russia has also set a career-high with four power-play goals.

ROAD TO SUCCESS

The success the Monarchs have had this season can be attributed to their strong play away from the Jungle, as Manchester holds a winning percentage of 60.6% away from the friendly confines of the Verizon Wireless Arena. When away, the Monarchs have averaged 3.39 goals/game, opposed to 2.77 goals/game at home. The scoring difference comes from the Monarchs ability to score on the power play, entering the week with the second-best road power play in the ECHL, converting on 21.7% (33-of-106) of their chances. The Monarchs have not let leads slip away when on the road, playing to a 14-0-0-0 record when leading after two periods away from Manchester.

IT'S NOT OVER UNTIL WE SAY IT IS

The Monarchs continue to lead the league with nine victories when trailing entering the third period, and have the second-best winning percentage (47.4%) in the ECHL when heading to the dressing room for the second intermission behind. The teams tied for second are Wheeling and Evansville, with six come-from-behind victories each.

TICKETS

The Monarchs return to the Jungle ice Friday, April 8 (7 p.m.), when they host the Adirondack Thunder in the final home game of the regular season on Fan Appreciation Night. As a thank you to Monarchs Country, the Monarchs will be drawing winners for the Shirt Off Our Back promotion and will be giving away Monarchs prizes all night long! In partnership with Autism Speaks, this will be Autism Awareness Night and 4,000 fans will leave the Jungle with a custom Monarchs Puzzle!

The home finale will also be March of Dimes Night!

To purchase tickets, visit ManchesterMonarchs.com or contact the Front Office at 603-626-7825!

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Images from this story

Manchester Monarchs vs. the Toledo Walleye
Manchester Monarchs vs. the Toledo Walleye
   



ECHL Stories from March 28, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central