Monarchs defenseman Patrick Mullen was caught with his head down and Albany’s Zack Fitzgerald belted Mullen with a hard check that might have been an elbow (no penalty was called). Mullen was down on the ice for a few minutes before being helped off.
Immediately after the hit, Monarchs enforcer Kevin Westgarth grabbed Fitzgerald and the two dropped the gloves, with Westy getting the better of the action with some vicious punches that landed on target.
The game is tied 1-1 with 14:17 to go in regulation.
With Trevor Lewis, Justin Azevedo and Richard Clune all injured, the Monarchs are thin at forward. To combat the light numbers, lines two, three and four have been rotating players in and out at various spots. The top line of Andrei Loktionov, Oscar Moller and Bud Holloway has been intact throughout the first period, which is scoreless with 6:30 to go.
Defenseman Alec Martinez, just sent down from Los Angeles after being activated from injured reserve, is starting alongside David Kolomatis for the Monarchs against Albany tonight.
The Monarchs are short on forwards due to injuries. I’ll check back in later with more on that.
The Manchester Monarchs are set to host the Norfolk Admirals in about 30 minutes. The teams have not met since splitting a pair early in the season.
Tonight is the second “winning weekday” event at the Verizon. Since the Monarchs won last Wednesday night, fans from that game were eligible for a free ticket tonight. We’ll see how it effects the attendance.
The Monarchs report that Trevor Lewis, who suffered an injury in Wednesday night’s win over Hartford, is “week to week” with an upper body injury. Lewis appeared to injure his shoulder going into the boards on a hard body check.
The Monarchs are at Hartford tonight and Binghamton on Saturday.
The Monarchs came from behind to post a 2-1 win over Hartford at home.
Forward Trevor Lewis (see previous posts) will have x-rays on Thursday to check on the status of his injured right shoulder.
Trevor Lewis remains out of the game with less than 8:00 to play in the third period (see previous post).
Manchester has come back from as 1-0 deficit to take a 2-1 lead.
Monarchs right wing Trevor Lewis left the game with 6:21 remaining in the second period after being taken into the boards at an awkward angle. Lewis left the ice favoring his right arm.
The Monarchs are set to face off with Hartford and head coach Mark Morris has gone with some toughness to open the game. Kevin Westgarth, Richard Clune and John Zeiler are the starting forwards tonight, with Slava Voynov and Andrew Campbell on defense.
Manchester lost for the first time at home in seven games, dropping a 4-1 decision to Hershey.
The Bears, who lost 5-0 at Portland on Friday, looked hungry from the drop of the puck and simply outworked the Monarchs all night.
Manchester hosts Hartford on Wednesday night with a chance to get back on track.
