Rookie David Meckler scored twice and assisted another as the Monarchs took hold of the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division with a 4-2 victory over the Springfield Falcons last night.
"Every game matters. It's do or die time," said Meckler.
To the delight of the 5,359 in Verizon Wireless Arena, the Monarchs never trailed, extending their unbeaten streak over Springfield in this building to 10 games. The Falcons last beat the Monarchs in the Big V on April 5, 2006.
The Monarchs (32-29-5-4, 73 points), who have never missed the playoffs, have won two in a row and climbed into playoff position by earning points in six of their last seven games. They have 10 games left, half of those against teams ahead of them in the standings.
"Our guys worked hard for it and we've battled back from a lot of points behind in the standings so it feels pretty good right now," said Monarchs coach Mark Morris. "We'll relish the fact that we're back in the hunt."
The Monarchs' best position in the standings since the second week of the season was a tie for fourth with Springfield on Jan. 26. Now Springfield (31-30-5-5, 72 points), which reluctantly relinquished that fourth and final playoff spot to the Monarchs last night, slips to fifth on a three-game losing streak. The Falcons have reason to worry after dropping three of their last four while Manchester continues on with a game in hand.
Monarchs 4, Falcons 2
Springfield 0 1 1-- 2
Manchester 1 2 1 --4
First Period -- 1. Man, Meckler 19 (Tukonen, Boyle) 19:59 ppg. Penalties: Man, Atherton (tripping) 5;13; Spr, Reddox (holding) 9:56; Spr, Simon (roughing) 9:56; Man, Likens (roughing) 9:56; Man, Atherton (holding) 14:32.
Second Period -- 2. Man, Lewis 11 (Meckler) 3:27 ppg; 3. Man, Likens 2 (Purcellm Moulson) 5:29; 4. Spr, Trukhno 13 (Farynuk, Micflikier) 6:48. Penalties: Spr, Trukhno (boarding) 2:20; Spr, Farynuk (cross-checking) 3:24; Spr, Trukhno (fighting) 10:27; Man, Bagnall (fighting) 10:27; Man, Hersley (interference) 10:48; Spr, Peckham (roughing) 19:08; Man, Boyle (roughing) 19:08; Man, Tukonen (hooking) 19:08.
Third Period -- 5. Man, Meckler 20 18:50 eng; 6. Spr, Goulet 9 (Werner, Farynuk) 19:24. Penalties: Man, Moulson (goaltender interference) 7:07; Spr, Goulet (goaltender interference) 8:47; Man, Atherton (cross-checking) 8:47; Spr, too many men (served by Potulny) 9:38; Man, thrown stick from bench (served by Purcell) 10:55.
Shots on goal -- Springfield 8-12-20--40; Manchester 14-19-5--38.
Power-play Opportunities -- Springfield 0 for 6; Manchester 2 for 6 .
Goalies -- Springfield, Deslauriers (37 shots, 34 saves); Manchester, Quick (40 shots - 38 saves);
A -- 5,359. T -- 2:27.
Referee -- Kyle Rehman; Linesmen -- Landon Bathe, Brian MacDonald.
The Monarchs' locker room was very businesslike after the contest ?" no big celebrations or anything like that. Wednesday the Monarchs host the Portland Pirates at 7:05 p.m. Portland can clinch the third of the four playoff spots in the Atlantic Division by grabbing a point in that game.
"There's a ton of hockey to be played," added Morris. "The next couple weeks are going to determine whether people consider this a good season, a productive season or a season we'd like to have over again."
Despite being outshot, 20-5, in the third period the Monarchs held on.
Slava Trukhno, a 21-year-old Russian rookie from the Quebec League, extended his league-leading scoring streak to 12 games to keep Springfield alive with a goal 6:48 into the second period, making it 3-1. Monarchs goaltender Jon Quick (38 saves), who played at UMass-Amherst, thwarted the penalty shot of former UNH star Jacob Micflikier with 5:09 left in the second, maintaining the two-goal lead.
"Good effort, just happy we got that win," said Quick.
The Monarchs' decisive damage ?" the three-goal lead ?" was completed in a 5:40 span from the end of the opening period into the second.
The Monarchs led, 1-0, on a controversial goal at the end of the first period. Meckler dug the puck out of a crowd in front and fired it under Springfield goaltender Jeff Deslauriers with no time left on the clock. The goal light came on but the clock's horn that signals the end of the period never sounded. Referee Kyle Rehman allowed the goal and Springfield coach Kelly Buchberger was irate.
Scoring 2:23 apart, Trevor Lewis and Jeff Likens had the Monarchs off to a 3-0 lead. Lewis blasted Meckler's draw back to the center point on a 5-on-3 advantage. Likens' right circle wrister cleanly beat Deslauriers (34 saves) at the end of the following man advantage 5:49 into the period.
The teams traded harmless goals in the final two minutes. Meckler outraced the Falcons for an empty net goal and a 4-1 lead with 1:10 to play and Springfield's Stephane Goulet scored with 36 seconds left.
"Huge win, but we've got to keep doing it," said Meckler. "If we let up now we're not going to make it. Time to either come together and win or our season is going to end early."
Notes: C Lewis, LW Matt Moulson, RW Teddy Purcell, C Brian Boyle are all on three-game points streaks ... Lewis has three goals in two games after not scoring for 23 games ... Healthy scratches: D Rich Petiot, LW Petr Kanko, LW Paul Crosty, D Josh Kidd ... C Meckler's nine shots after two periods was a season high. He finished with 11 ... Springfield leading scorer LW Rob Schremp had a nine-game points streak end ... The penalty shot was the first given up by the Monarchs this season. Springfield is 0-for-2 on penalty shots ... D Brad Farynuk, a second-year pro out of RPI, assisted both Springfield goals ... Micflikier, the rookie LW from UNH, said the Falcons are not pushing the panic button: "We have a little time here so we're not going to panic just yet. We've got to get some wins here and try to get back into the playoff race."
