Weal’s hat trick lifts Monarchs to 3-1 series lead

Jordan Weal scored the first of his three goals 42 seconds into Game 4 as the Manchester Monarchs rebounded from a narrow Game 3 loss with a 5-2 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Monday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. The Monarchs lead the best-of-seven series three games to one and will have a chance to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals when the teams meet again in Wilkes-Barre tonight at 4:05 p.m. PT. BOX SCORE | RECAP

Michael Mersch scored a shorthanded goal and David Van der Gulik also found the back of the net for the Monarchs, who relied on a 27-save performance by J.F. Berube. Manchester has now scored 15 goals in four games (albeit over 14-plus periods) against the AHL team that allowed the fewest goals against in the regular season. Former Monarch Jeff Zatkoff appeared in 14:54 over the final period and stopped one of the two shots he faced.

1 MANCHESTER 4 vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 3 (3 OT)
2 MANCHESTER 5 vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2
3 MANCHESTER 1 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2
4 MANCHESTER 5 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2
5 May 12 / 7:05 p.m. at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
6* May 15 / 7 p.m. vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
7* May 16 / 7 p.m. vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
*if necessary

Click here for video of the highlights, or take a gander at the clips in GIF form, courtesy of The AHL:

A goal within the first minute of regulation? ☑️ Jordan Weal? ☑️ @monarchshockey 1-0. #MCHvsWBS pic.twitter.com/EBumr1FUrm

— AHL (@TheAHL) May 11, 2015

There’s some legitimate fire on this shorthanded rip from @mikemersch25. #MCHvsWBS pic.twitter.com/s3C6yxZ3Ty

— AHL (@TheAHL) May 12, 2015

Van der Gulik set up beautifully by Nick Shore, who did work to keep that puck in. #MCHvsWBS pic.twitter.com/QmIiaOBsl0

— AHL (@TheAHL) May 12, 2015

#HotTake: Jordan Weal is very good at hockey. #hatty #MCHvsWBS pic.twitter.com/4ioKhToklf

— AHL (@TheAHL) May 12, 2015