MANCHESTER, NH – December 1, 2018 – Riley Armstrong put together a line of Alex Kile, Michael McNicholas and Morgan Adams-Moisan for Saturday night’s game in Manchester. They may stay together for a while. The three each had multi-point nights, as Kile lead the way with four points and Connor LaCouvee made 37 saves in a 5-2 Mariners win.
McNicholas got the scoring started early when his shot from just above the goal line at 2:28 of the first made its way over Monarchs netminder Cole Kehler. The Mariners added two goals late in the frame to make it 3-0 and did so in short order. Kile found the net at 18:16, set up by McNicholas and Adams-Moisan at 18:50, banging home a rebound right on top of the blue paint.
Neither team scored in the 2nd period as the Mariners continued their penalty kill streak, ultimately reaching 31 straight killed by the end of the game. Connor LaCouvee, making his first Mariners start since October 24th, kept the Monarchs off the board through two periods on their Teddy Bear Toss night.
At 10:14 of the third, Adams-Moisan got loose in front of a net and beat Kehler with a backhand for his second goal of the night and fourth of the week. Manchester finally beat LaCouvee at 11:37 when Cory Ward deflected David Kolomatis’ feed home. Things got a little more interested when Kolomatis scored shorthanded at 15:31, but Kile hit the empty net at 16:53 to put the game away. It was also shorthanded, marking the seventh Mariners shorthanded goal in 10 games. Kile finished with two goals and two assists, McNicholas with one goal and two assists, and Adams-Moisan with two goals. Scott Savage, Derek Pratt and Vince Pedrie also had helpers.
LaCouvee stopped 37 of 39 to improve to 3-0-0 while Kehler turned aside 33 of 37.