Andreoff, O’Neill lead Monarchs in 8-2 drubbing
PORTLAND, ME – Andy Andreoff had a hat trick and Brian O’Neill tied the team record with five assists in Manchester’s 8-2 rout of Portland on Wednesday night at the Cross Insurance Arena.
The win gave the Monarchs (18-6-1-1) a 4-1 advantage over the Pirates (14-14-0-0) in the VIP Cup Series.
O’Neill joined Jared Aulin on (Dec. 21, 2002 at St. John’s) as the only Monarchs players to ever tally five assists in a game and is one of four players with five points in a single game.
Manchester struck first when Sean Backman tipped home a shot from Nic Dowd at 12:00 in the first period. It was Backman’s fifth goal of the season and first since Nov. 14 at Worcester.
Josh Gratton extended the lead to 2-0 when he scored his second goal of the year at 15:08 in the first.
The Pirates answered with a goal of their own at 16:50 in the first when Justin Hodgman slipped a shot past J.F. Berube.
Manchester would restore the two-goal advantage less than 30 seconds later when Andreoff buried a wrister at 17:15. It was his first goal since joining the Monarchs on Dec. 5.
Andreoff struck again at 6:36 in the second when he scored on a feed from Nick Shore in the low slot to make it 4-1.
Kevin Gravel (3rd of the season) and Nick Shore (14th) scored 11 seconds apart in the second when they tallied goals at 13:04 and 13:15, respectively.
Portland got its second of the game at 13:39 when Darian Dziurzynski cut the lead to 6-2.
Andreoff completed the hat trick when he scored on a loose puck at 16:38 in the second.
Justin Auger’s fifth goal of the season extended the lead to 8-2 at 8:39 in the third period when he scored on a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot.
The Monarchs will play consecutive games at home on Dec. 19 against Worcester (7 p.m.) and Dec. 20 against Providence (7 p.m.) before the AHL season takes a holiday break. Dec. 27 is Trophies Night at the Verizon Wireless Arena. Fans can have their picture taken with the Stanley Cup and see other championship trophies, including those won by the Red Sox and Celtics.
Notes:
- Tonight was Andy Andreoff’s first career hat trick and first multi-goal game in the AHL since April 13, 2013 against Hershey.
- Nick Shore had a career-high four points tonight, with a goal and three assists.
- This marked the Monarchs’ most goals in a game since a 9-2 win against Connecticut on Dec. 8, 2012.
- Josh Gratton has two goals this season, both coming at Portland (also Dec. 12.).
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