MANCHESTER, NH — The Manchester Kings are playing their best hockey of the season at just the right time.
With a 6-1 win over Londonderry, Wednesday afternoon at JFK Arena, Manchester ran its unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2).
With just five games remaining in the regular season, the Kings suddenly find themselves in seventh place in Division I at 6-5-2.
”We’re doing alright. The last five or six games, we’ve sort of come along a little bit,” said Manchester Head Coach Jeremy Baker. “We made some changes to the lines, we’re rolling out three good lines now. The kids are getting a little confidence and you’re seeing the buy-in.”
The shuffling of lines has provided Manchester with a more balanced offense and has improved the team’s stamina. Both were on display, Wednesday. The Kings got points from seven different players and goals from five against Londonderry.
More importantly, they outscored the Lancers, 3-1, in the third period.
”That’s the buy-in you’re seeing,” said Baker. “They’re starting to believe what they’re capable of doing and they’re playing hard for 45 minutes.”
Tyler Cantin had a pair of goals, just 34 seconds apart, in the third period, for Manchester. Ryan Marden had a goal and three assists, while Jonny Nassoura added a goal and two assists.
The six goals were a season high for Manchester, which came into Wednesday averaging just 2.5 goals a game. The Kings outshot the Lancers, 43-22.
Londonderry (4-8-0) came into the game desperate for a win, having lost six of its last seven. The Lancers were able to match the Kings’ intensity in the first period but came away with nothing to show for it thanks to solid play between the pipes by Manchester goalie Cam Roberge (21 saves).
According to Baker, improved consistency in the play of Roberge, a junior, is one of the key reasons why the Kings haven’t lost since Jan. 22 (4-1 to Concord).
Another has been improved mental discipline. Manchester took just one penalty Wednesday, a season low.
Manchester grabbed a 1-0 lead in the waning seconds of the first period on a power play goal by Andrue McLaughlin.
The Kings doubled the lead in the opening minute of the second period, on a goal by Jake Lessard. Later in the period, Nassoura scored off a feed from Marden to make it 3-0 and put Manchester in firm control.
Cantin’s two goals in the third bumped the lead to 5-0 before Marden scored on a breakaway.
Roberge was denied his first shutout of the season, when Dylan Mac-Davis scored for Londonderry with 2:20 left to play.
Manchester will look to stay hot Saturday at 6:20 pm, when it plays host to Merrimack-Hollis-Brookline-Derryfield at the JFK.
