Portland downs Manchester 2-1

(manchestermonarchs.com) — The Manchester Monarchs took on the Portland Pirates in their second preseason matchup at the Sullivan Arena on the campus of Saint Anselm College in Manchester on Sunday.  Manchester fell to Portland 2-1.

Portland opened the scoring at 9:00 of the first period on a redirection off the stick of center Henrik Samuelsson.  The puck was sent in front of the net from the left corner by center Jordan Martinook, where Samuelsson was waiting at the top of the crease.  Samuelsson pushed the puck past Bartosak to put the Pirates up 1-0 with his second preseason mark this year.

After a quiet second, the Pirates doubled their lead at 3:14 in the third period.  With a delayed penalty waiting on the Monarchs, Portland controlled the puck in the offensive zone.  Defenseman Evan Oberg sent the puck to the right faceoff circle, where right winger Tobias Reider sent a wrist shot over goaltender Yann Davis’ glove side for his first preseason goal to make it 2-0 Portland.

The Monarchs finally made their way on to the scoreboard at 5:24 of the third period with a deflection by center Andrew Crescenzi.  Defenseman Kurtis MacDermid sent a high wrist shot by goaltender Louis Domingue’s blocker, where Crescenzi knocked it out of the air and into the back of the goal.  The goal cut Portland’s lead in half and marked Crescenzi’s second tally of the preseason.