Jeff Zatkoff stopped 28 shots and 3-of-5 in the shootout in the Monarchs 3-2 win.

SPRINGFIELD, MA – Goaltender Jeff Zatkoff made 28 saves and stopped 3-of-5 snipers in the shootout to give the Manchester Monarchs a 3-2 shootout victory over the Springfield Falcons at the MassMutual Center on Saturday night.

Manchester (15-6-1-2) is in first place in the Atlantic Division with 33 points. Springfield (10-8-3-2) is tied for fifth place in the Atlantic Division with 25 points.

Zatkoff made 3-of-5 saves in the shootout as center Chad Wiseman and left wing Viatcheslav Trukhno were the only Falcons to slip the puck past him. Monarchs center Corey Elkins, defenseman Patrick Mullen and center Oscar Moller beat goaltender Andrew Perugini in the shootout for the win.

Monarchs left wing Bud Holloway put the Monarchs on the scoreboard at 9:08 of the opening frame with his seventh goal of the season. Carrying the puck down the left wing, right wing Geoff Walker lost possession of it when it got tangled in the skates of the Falcons defender. Holloway dug the puck out and sidestepped the defenseman to hand the puck off to Walker in the lower left face-off circle. The winger snapped a wrist shot on Perugini but the rebound came right back to him. On his second shot, Perugini made the save again on Walker but the puck bounced straight up in the air. Holloway slapped at it from the top of the crease and Walker batted at it from behind the net. The puck slipped into the net behind Perugini and Holloway was credited with the tally.

Springfield tied the game with right wing Colton Fretter’s ninth goal of the season at 3:40 of the second period. Defenseman Chris Armstrong tossed a shot on net from the left wing boards that Zatkoff made the save on at the right post. Fretter picked up the rebound from the doorstep and shot the puck into Zatkoff’s pads. The winger then grabbed the puck again and lifted it up and over the goaltender’s right pad to even the game at 1-1. Right wing Bill Thomas picked up an assist on the second period power play tally.

Center Gabe Gauthier gave the Monarchs a 2-1 advantage at 12:50 of the final frame with his fourth goal of the season. Holloway skated into the Falcons zone and chipped the puck over to Gauthier at the top of the right face-off circle. The center snapped a wrist shot from inside the circle. The puck deflected off the Falcons stick at point blank range of Gauthier and soared up and over Perugini’s right pad for the goal. Defenseman Drew Bagnall assisted on Gauthier’s second goal in as many games.

Just over two minutes later, Wiseman scored his seventh tally of the season to tie the game at 2-2 and pushed overtime. Left wing Charles Linglet ripped a shot at Zatkoff from the center point that the netminder turned aside but Wiseman was skating toward the net and lifted the rebound into the top of the cage. Thomas picked up his second assist of the night on Wiseman’s goal at 14:51 of the third period. Zatkoff (5-2-0) earned his fifth win of the season and second shootout victory with 28 saves on 30 shots. Perugini (0-0-1) took his first shootout loss of the season in his AHL debut stopping 32 shots.

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

Notables: The Monarchs are on a three-game winning streak…Manchester outshot their opponent for only the fifth time this season…The Monarchs are 2-2 in shootouts this season…Both shootout victories of the season came with netminder Jeff Zatkoff between the pipes for the Monarchs…Manchester finishes November with a 6-4-1-2 record following a 9-2-0-0 record in October…Left wing Bud Holloway has four points (1-3=4) in his last two games…Center Gabe Gauthier is on a three-game point (2-2=4) streak and two-game goal scoring streak (two goals)...Defenseman Drew Bagnall is on a two-game point (1-1=2) streak…Center Corey Elkins’ three-game point (2-1=3) streak came to an end.