Konstantin Pushkarev scored three times to lead the Manchester Monarchs to a 6-1 victory over the San Antonio Rampage at Verizon Wireless Arena on Wednesday night.
The Monarchs opened the scoring when Pushkarev scored 8:57 into the first period and never looked back. The Monarchs broke the game open with four goals in the second period, and Pushkarev finished out the game’s scoring late in the third period to secure the first hat trick of his professional career.
San Antonio’s Pascal Rheaume spoiled Barry Brust‘s shutout bid with 8:38 left in the third period. Brust finished the game with 26 saves on 27 shots.
Brad Smyth contributed to the Monarchs victory with a goal and an assists, while Joey Mormina, Matt Ryan, and Brendan Bernakevitch each had a pair of assists.
Manchester’s (29-14-2-4, 64 pts.) win combined with a Portland overtime loss on Wednesday night puts the Monarchs just two points back for the lead in the Atlantic division.
Elsewhere on Wednesday:
Norfolk’s Matt Cullen continues to be a thorn in the side of the Hershey Bears with two goals and an assist on Wednesday, as the Admirals nipped the Bears, 5-4… Brandon Bochenski scored the game winner 2:25 into overtime for his second goal of the game to give Binghamton a 4-3 win over Portland… Pascal Pelletier scored a pair of goals and David Lundbohm tallied a goal and an assist to lead Providence to a 5-1 win over Lowell… One game after having his 18 game point scoring streak snapped, Mark Hartigan will attempt to start a new streak with one goal in Syracuse’s 3-1 win over Chicago… Marc Cavosie scored a goal and an assists to help Philadelphia to a 3-2 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton… Alexander Mogilny led Albany to a 5-2 win over Springfield with a goal and an assist.
