HARTFORD, CT – The Monarchs scored five goals from five different players for a 5-3 win over the Wolf Pack at the XL Centeron May 26. The win gave Manchester a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals and set up a potential series sweep Wednesday night.
The Monarchs (10-3) outshot Hartford (7-7) by a 34-19 margin.
Nick Shore gave the Monarchs a 1-0 lead at 5:11 in the first period when he tipped in a shot from Andrew Bodnarchuk. It extended Manchester’s streak of scoring first to five straight games.
Hartford tied the score on the power play when Chad Nehring scored on the man advantage at 13:47 in the first period.
Brian O’Neill gave the Monarchs a 2-1 lead just before the first period ended when he was set up for a wrist shot by Jordan Weal at19:26. It was his eighth goal of the postseason.
Adrian Kempe scored his third goal of the playoffs at 5:05 in the second period, giving the Monarchs a 3-1 lead. Nick Shore and Zach O’Brien picked up assists on the tally.
Sean Backman made the score 4-1 when he scored on a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle at 7:38 in the third period.
Hartford cut the lead to 4-2 on a power-play goal from Danny Kristo at 12:16 in the third period.
Zach O’Brien restored Manchester’s three-goal advantage when he tallied his second goal of the playoffs at 14:00 in the third period.
Joey Crabb added a goal at 19:59 in the third period to make the score 5-3
These teams will play Game 4 tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at the XL Center. Manchester will have a chance to clinch the Eastern Conference Finals.
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Notes:
- Nick Shore (goal, assist) picked up his second multi-point game of the playoffs. He now has three points in his last two games and eight points in his last nine beginning on May 2.
- Sean Backman’s third-period goal was his third goal in his last two games and fourth in the playoffs overall.
- Jordan Weal (assist) is now one point shy of tying Bud Holloway (25 points) for the most points all-time by a Monarchs player in the postseason (10 goals, 14 assists).
- Manchester improved to 10-0 when scoring first in the playoffs.