Monarchs advance; Lewis, Kopitar score at Worlds

A few quick updates towards the end of a long weekend (more to come later this evening):

Manchester Monarchs fans can breathe easily. The Monarchs took a 3-0 lead in their decisive Game 5 against Portland last night, surrendered three unanswered goals, and won the game on a pair of huge markers by Michael Mersch and Adrian Kempe 20 seconds apart early in the third period. They won the series three games to two and will face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the second round. Before quotes are posted later today, click here for the Union Leader’s recap.

Photo May 02, 8 06 46 PM (3)

The second round schedule:

Game, Date / Time, Home / Away
1 May 6 / 7 p.m. vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
2 May 7 / 7 p.m. vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
3 May 9 / 7:05 p.m. at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
4 May 11 / 7:05 p.m. at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
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

Make sure to read my LAK.com story on Nick Shore and the Monarchs’ playoff quest: SHORED UP

Photo May 02, 8 59 03 PM (2) (640x427)
-Photos courtesy of Rich Tilton / Manchester Monarchs

At the World Championships yesterday, Marian Gaborik and Slovakia beat Denmark, Anze Kopitar and Slovenia lost to Belarus, and Trevor Lewis had a goal and an assist in the United States’ 2-1 win over Norway.

Early Sunday at the World Championships, Anze Kopitar had a goal, but Russia defeated Slovenia, 5-3.

Belarus v Slovenia - 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship

Rules for Blog Commenting

  • No profanity, slurs or other offensive language. Replacing letters with symbols does not turn expletives into non-expletives.
  • Personal attacks against other blog commenters, and/or blatant attempts to antagonize other comments, are not tolerated. Respectful disagreement is encouraged. Posts that continually express the same singular opinion will be deleted.
  • Comments that incite political, religious or similar debates will be deleted.
  • Please do not discuss, or post links to websites that illegally stream NHL games.
  • Posting under multiple user names is not allowed. Do not type in all caps. All violations are subject to comment deletion and/or banning of commenters, per the discretion of the blog administrator.

Repeated violations of the blog rules will result in site bans, commensurate with the nature and number of offenses.

Please flag any comments that violate the site rules for moderation. For immediate problems regarding problematic posts, please email zdooley@lakings.com.