Monarchs Dominate In Game Two, Dump Portland Pirates 6-2
Portland Pirates’ Goalie Mike McKenna Would Just As Soon Forget About Game Two
The camel maybe should have warned goalie Mike McKenna, “It’s game day, how about showing up?”
The Mighty Manchester Monarchs reined easily over the Portland Pirates in the pivotal game two, and the game didn’t start out too pretty. The heavily favored and talented Monarchs scored two goals within the FIRST 30 SECONDS to dismiss any doubts who’s the dominant team in this opening best of five playoff series.
Remember the Weal & O’Neill show who destroyed any Portland Pirates aspirations of a victory in-game one? Well, they were at it again… and this time O’Neill netted a goal and an assist, and Weal got the second goal at the 0:30 mark of the first stanza. Michael Mersch added two goals, and Sean Backman a goal and an assist.
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On the Portland Pirates score sheet, after the two quick first period goals allowed, Brendan Shinnimin netted a goal at 19:45 of the first period, assisted by Christian Dvorak, and Joel Hanley. Philip Samuelsson also collected a power play goal in the third period, but not after the Monarchs threw everything at the Pirates by scoring three in a 39 second span.
This highly skilled Monarchs team had the Pirates’ head spinning, and knocked Mike McKenna out of the nets after the first two quick goals to start the game.
Louis Domingue didn’t fare much better, but saved 23 of 26 shots in relief.
The Portland Pirates need to buckle down on defense, and see if they get back into this series, which so far has been dominated by the Monarchs. The Pirates just managed 19 shots on goalie Jean-Francois Berube, and were held in tact by the Monarchs tough defense.
Being outscored 11-4 in the series, does not make it appear that the Pirates can skate with the Monarchs. They need to figure it out, or today’s game may be their last of this season. One bright spot may be the development of center Christian Dvorak.
He had one goal, one assist in two regular season games, and has an assist in two games in the Calder Cup Playoffs. If he can net a couple of goals in game three, perhaps the Pirates can slow the Monarchs down to force a game four.
It’s good to see Dvorak playing so well, and I’m sure the management of the Arizona Coyotes are taking notice. They could certainly use Dvorak’s scoring touch to ignite some offense into the Coyotes lineup next season.
The Monarchs had the fourth best offense (3.17 GF) and second best defense (2.32 GA) in the entire AHL this past season. With that in mind, the Portland Pirates can beat this team, as evidenced by their five victories against them in thirteen games during the regular season. BUT, as they always say, “THIS IS THE PLAYOFFS BOYS.”
Next: Portland Pirates Playoffs: Game One Goes To Monarchs 5-2
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