Springfield Falcons late flurry can’t solve the Manchester Monarchs

David LeNevue's 28 saves was not enough as the Springfield Falcons lost to the Manchester Monarchs 3-1. Justin Felisko/A Bird's Eye View

The Springfield Falcons sent a relentless flurry in the third period, out shooting the Manchester Monarchs 12-3, but it was not enough to overcome a 2-0 deficit and the Monarchs held on to win 2-1 at the MassMutual Center on Saturday night.

Trailing 2-1, the Falcons nearly scored with goaltender David LeNevue off the ice for the extra attacker when Tomas Kana hit the post with just under a minute remaining. Yet, Jeff Zatkoff held his own in the final flurry finishing with 29 saves in the victory. The Miami of Ohio product was named the first star of the game in front of 2,775.

Springfield coach Rob Riley told Fran Sypek of the Springfield Republican that he wants to see the urgency the Falcons showed in the third period for an entire game.

You can’t come back every night, especially against good teams. We had some great chances, but you want to be able to play six good periods a weekend and we’re not quite there yet.”

It was the second night that the Falcons had to overcome third period deficits. On Friday, Springfield scored six unanswered goals to defeat the Pirates 6-2 for the Falcons (1-3) only home win.

Bud Hollaway added an empty-net goal with 7.6 seconds remaining. The Falcons and Monarchs have split the seasons series with both teams gaining wins on the road.

Manchester coach Mark Morris called it “pandemonium” in the final five minutes according to a Monarchs press release.

It was pandemonium in the last five minutes.(Jeff) Zatkoff played really well and their goalie (David LeNeveu) played really well.  We were relieved when Bud (Holloway) finally put it out of reach for us.”

Late in the first period, David LeNevue knocked in a puck into his own net on a point shot from Thomas Hickey to give the Monarchs an early 1-0 lead. Justin Azevedo made it 2-0 within a minute of the second period when he scooped up a bad pass in the neutral zone, went in alone and scored for an unassisted short-handed goal.

Other than those two goals, LeNevue played well for most of the game racking up 28 saves in the loss. LeNevue made some great saves early in the first period on the penalty kill when he made a nice save in front and snatched the puck out of the air.

Chad Kolarik got the Falcons within one when he scored a power play goal from his knees on a rebound shot. Kolarik received a nice pass from Mike Blunden after Blunden used his skate to kick the puck across the crease to Kolarik. Blunden had recovered the original rebound from Tom Sestito’s point shot.

“We know we’ve got to stay focused for 60 minutes,” said center Chad Kolarik, who scored the lone Falcons goal. “We’re going to be good. We just need to get a little streak going.”