(manchestermonarchs.com) – Right wing Linden Vey tallied two goals and three points to help the Manchester Monarchs break the Norfolk Admirals’ 29-game winning streak with a 5-2 win in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series on Saturday night at Norfolk Scope.
The series is tied at 1-1.
“It is gratifying to watch our players celebrate this momentous win,” said Monarchs head coach Mark Morris. “Ending the Norfolk winning streak should help our team gain confidence moving deeper into the series.”
Center Robert Czarnik gave the Monarchs a 3-2 lead at 5:28 of the third period. Defenseman Thomas Hickey grabbed the puck off the left wing half wall and passed it to Vey in the left face-off circle. Vey quickly redirected Hickey’s pass to Czarnik on the right doorstep of the Admirals cage. Czarnik shot the puck into the net for his first professional post-season goal and the eventual game-winning tally.
The Monarchs opened the scoring with a 4-on-4 goal by Vey at 11:23 of the first period. With the Admirals in possession of the puck along the left wing half wall in the Monarchs zone, right wing Brandon Kozun and Hickey applied pressure producing a turnover where Hickey chipped the puck out of Manchester’s territory. Vey picked up the loose puck along the right wing boards and skated in on Admirals netminder Jaroslav Janus on a partial breakaway. Vey moved the puck back-and-forth from his forehand to his backhand and flipped a shot beating Janus for his first professional post-season tally.
The Monarchs opened up a 2-0 lead late in the first period as Kozun scored his first goal of the playoffs at 17:12 of the opening frame. Left wing Ray Kaunisto fired a shot from the left hash mark and soared high and wide, wrapping around the right wing boards. Right wing Trent Hunter grabbed the loose puck at the right wing half wall and launched a wrist shot on goal. Hunter’s shot was stopped but Kozun poked the rebound under Janus to double the Monarchs lead.
Norfolk cut the Monarchs lead to 2-1 at 5:10 of the second period with a goal from left wing Alexandre Picard. Right wing Brandon Segal took the puck behind the Monarchs cage skating from left-to-right. Segal found Picard inside the right wing face-off circle for a one-timer that beat Monarchs goaltender Martin Jones. Center Alex Killorn also tallied an assist on the play.
The Admirals tied the game at 2-2 as Picard scored his second goal of the game and third tally of the series at 10:02 of the second period. Killorn passed the puck from behind the goal line in the Monarchs zone to defenseman Jeff Dimmen inside the left wing face-off circle. Dimmen released a shot on net that Jones denied. Picard was stationed in the slot and backhanded the through Jones’ legs for the equalizer.
The Monarchs grabbed an insurance goal by Vey at 16:16 of the third period to take a 4-2 lead. Vey poked the puck free from an Admirals defenseman in the Monarchs zone before tracking down the loose puck along the left wing boards. Vey skated in for a partial breakaway and wristed a shot that beat Janus on his blocker side for the rookie’s second goal of the game.
Left wing Andy Andreoff finished off the Admirals with an empty net goal at 17:59 of the final period. Defenseman Jake Muzzin fed a pass to Andreoff who broke behind the defense and pushed the puck into the open goal for his first playoff tally.
Jones (1-0) earned his first victory of the post-season, stopping 37-of-39 shots. Janus (1-1) took his first loss of the playoffs making 25 saves on 29 shots.
Manchester went 0-for-7 on the power play. Norfolk was 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
