MANCHESTER, NH – Left wing Nick Deslauriers scored at 1:19 of overtime to give the Manchester Monarchs a 4-3 overtime victory over the Springfield Falcons at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday night.

Manchester (14-3-1-3) leads the Atlantic Division with 32 points.  Springfield (13-3-1-1) leads the Northeast Division with 28 points.  The Monarchs and Falcons are one-two, respectively, in the Eastern Conference.

"Our emotions were all over the map," said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris.  "We had a lot of rest, and came out really not executing.  We were able to manage a goal.  I thought the second period, we were really lethargic and didn’t have a whole lot of jump.  We still made a lot of mistakes, but in the end, we came up with a huge goal.”

The Monarchs converted on the lone shot on goal during the extra period to win it 4-3.  A Springfield defenseman chased the puck down the right wing boards as it dribbled into the Monarchs offensive zone.  Deslauriers, on his heels, managed to cause the defenseman to turn the puck over.  Reinforcements came as defenseman Vincent LoVerde picked up the loose puck and saw Deslauriers surging toward the net ahead of the lone Springfield defenseman.  He flipped the puck high into the air for Deslauriers, who settled the puck and gave a quick dangle before flipping it over the stick-side of sprawling goaltender Jeffrey Smith for the game-winning tally.

At the 9:05 mark of the first period, left wing Maxim Kitsyn put the Monarchs on the scoreboard with his second goal of the season.  Center Robert Czarnik passed the puck to forward Hunter Bishop who had stationed himself at the top of the slot.  Bishop quickly released the puck upon receiving it and it deflected off of Kitsyn and into the net, passed screened Smith.

The Falcons retaliated at the 17:51 mark of the same period.  At the red line, a hard pass from defenseman Austin Madaisky launched left wing Ryan Craig ahead toward Monarchs goaltender J.F. Berube along the left wing.  Craig, unable to cut across the slot, fired the puck low and scored through the five-hole for his third goal of the year.

Springfield would add another tally at 18:16 of the first period as left wing Jonathan Marchessault scored his fourth of the year.  During a scramble in the crease, Marchessault spotted the puck, extracted it from the pile of players and wheeled around the net with it.  With Berube still sprawled on the ice, Marchessault backhanded the puck high and into the right corner.  Forwards Tim Miller and Cody Bass grabbed the assists on the goal that gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead.

At the 6:55 mark of the second period, the Falcons extended their lead to 3-1.  During another scramble in the Monarchs crease, Berube tried to reach out and snare a trickling puck in his glove.  The puck escaped his grasp to be recovered by center Daryll Boyce, who sent the puck to defenseman Cody Goloubef at the point.  Goloubef fired the puck through Berube’s legs and into the net.

The Monarchs brought the score to within one as center Jordan Weal scored his third goal of the season.  Deslauriers entered the offensive zone along the left wing boards and pulled up just inside the blueline.  He found Weal streaking right by him and passed him the puck.  Skating toward the left post, he faked a backhand shot only to bring it back to his forehand and slip it deceptively inside the right post.  Right wing Brandon Kozun would secure an assist on the goal.

The Monarchs tied it up, 3-3, at 14:37 of the third period.  After substantial time spent in Manchester’s attacking zone, the Falcons recovered the puck behind their net and went for the quick rush.  Kozun stormed in and lifted the stick of the puck carrier to cause a turnover.  The puck trickled to the top of the slot to be picked up by Deslauriers, who one-timed the puck over the shoulder of Smith.

Berube (5-2-1) earned his fifth win of the season by stopping 31-of-34 shots.  Smith (8-2-1) took his second loss of the season with 26 saves on 30 shots.

Manchester was 0-for-4 on the power play.  Springfield went 1-for-3 with the man advantage.

Notables:  The Monarchs are currently on a seven-game winning streak at home…Manchester ranks first in the Eastern Conference…The victory was the Monarchs first win in overtime…Left wing Maxim Kitsyn has two goals in as many games…Left wing Nick Deslauriers scored his first game-winning goal and collected his first multi-goal game of the season…Goaltender J.F. Berube has appeared in seven consecutive games.

The Monarchs travel to Connecticut to face-off with the Hartford Wolf Pack at the XL Center at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 30.  Catch all of the play-by-play action of Monarchs hockey with Ken Cail on the Monarchs Radio Network WGIRAM.com and at www.manchestermonarchs.com, presented by Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.