Monarchs advance to Division Finals for third straight year

The Manchester Monarchs became the first team to advance to the Division Finals of the 2019 Kelly Cup Playoffs presented by SmileDirectClub with a 7-1 win over the Adirondack Thunder in Game 5 of their North Division Semifinals series on Saturday.

Manchester advances to the second round for the third consecutive year and awaits the winner of the Newfoundland/Brampton series in the next round. The Growlers lead that series 3 games to 2 and host Game 6 at St. John's on Tuesday.

With the score tied 1-1 late in the second period, Kevin Dufour put Manchester ahead with a goal in his fourth consecutive game at the 13:46 mark. The Monarchs added five goals in the final period to set the final.

Dufour led Manchester in the series with five goals while Pierre-Luc Mercier had a team-leading eight points (2g-6a).

The Thunder were led by John Edwardh who had six points (1g-5a) in the five games.

Click here to view the complete schedule and results from the 2019 Kelly Cup Playoffs presented by SmileDirectClub.