(Note: These game recaps are copies of write-ups produced for the Monarchs discord, some content (mostly the pings of individual players) have been removed.)

Game 17 vs, New Orleans Specters: 4-1 Win

Fresh off a pallet-cleansing win, we go back to war with our divisional rival, determined to not cock it up this time.

The game doesn't start well. Hugh Manius strikes just 27 seconds into the game, but we keep pace, and Meta Knight takes a steal and buries an unassisted break to tie the game to end the 1st.

The 2nd provides no offense and more penalties, as we frustrate the Specters mightly. When Frazier trips one of our own to go to the box, it doesn't take long for Gordon-William Gibbles to find the back of the net. Unbelievably, Frazier exits his trip to the sin bin just to reenter it a minute later, setting off a cavalcade of sticks where they shouldn't be. On another power play chance, Binko Koivu finds the net to make the lead two, and Oles Kobliska finds the empty net to cap off a great effort on all sides.

Jeff Newman has his best effort of the season to date, with a 40/41 effort good for a .976 save percentage. This game BELONGED to Binko Koivu, an incredible offensive effort rewarded with a two-point night. This win shows we can play up to our weight. Time to win a few more.

-----

Game 18 vs. Atlanta Inferno: 4-2 Win

To the South, the Monarchs go, to fight a raging fire, and as is the theme, we douse it.

Hai Nam Hoang's 12th of the season on the power play sets the tone, even when the Inferno tie it up a minute later. It's a tight contest through two periods, no team giving an inch.

The dam breaks in the 3rd. Oles Kobliska, on a hot streak now, takes a pass from Meta Knight to give us a lead. 3 minutes later, Lazer Gato gets on the board to pad the lead. John Hopoate scores to make it a one-goal game, but we hold on for dear life to take the win, as Kevin Kim gets an empty netter to seal it.

This game goes to Ally Mathieson, a sweet victory against her former team, and her .938 save percentage is a badge of honor. Meta Knight and Jules Florsch lodge 2 assists, and just like that, we've got a winning streak!

-----

Game 19 vs. San Francisco Pride: 4-3 Win

It's time for some payback.

The Pride jump on us early, they really do. Luke Laraque gets a shorty tally 41 seconds in and it doesn't improve for the entire 1st period, as Toasty scores late in the frame.

But the 2nd period is a blitz. Binko Koivu scores early in the period, Meta Knight ties the game at the halfway point, and it's Poiklm, the rookie, who gives us the lead. And now, as is expected, the hang-on for dear life begins.

Mercedes Bayle ties the game late in the 3rd, and for a brief unconcionable moment, it looks like the momentum we have built the past few games might be snuffed out. The 3rd line heads out to try and stem the bleeding.

"...it doesn't look good. Poiklm heads through neutral ice, clearing shot is ON NET, TIME BIT, THE MONARCHS SCORE! Oh, of all the ways for the Pride to lose this game! Poiklm fired it like it was a clearing attempt, but he put it on net, time went out to play it, he couldn't get back, the Monarchs lead this game 4-3 with two minutes to go!"

After taking a penalty late, Poiklm plays the hero and the spoiler, with two goals at key points to win this game for the Monarchs. There's no doubt who the first star of this one is. In what turns out to be his final game with the team, he has one of the great sendouts in team history.

-----

Game 20 vs. Buffalo Stampede: 3-0 Win

This game starts with:
Hooking
Hooking
Hooking
Hooking
Tripping
Hooking
Tripping

With the stickwork out of the way, The Monarchs lock it down on defense. Gato strikes midway into the frame, and on the power play, Spack Jarrow scores in his Monarch debut, and the team goes into the 3rd up 2-0.

The lead holds, the Stampede muster no chances, and while Knight and Hoang combine for a goal, the opening pass is provided by another new addition, Jay O'Neal, and we feel good with our 5-game win streak secured.

Jeff Newman is stellar. Finally, after great performance after great performance, he has his shutout. It's a feel-good game, the new guys are contributing, our defense is starting to click. After a so-so start, the Monarchs are back.

-----

Game 21 vs. San Francisco Pride: 7-3 Loss

...unfortunately for us, the Pride never left, and we didn't exactly leave them feeling great.

We're hit hard in the 1st, as Rowan O'Beirne, Logan Webb, and Viktor Hargreeves score early, but we don't quit easy. The 3rd line goes to work, and Oles Kobliska scores two goals, one shorthanded, to get us within one.

In the 2nd, we come all the way back. Julian Florsch scores and the Monarchs tie it, but Rowan gets one back.

and then in the 3rd the score 3 more who cares.

-----

Game 22 vs. Calgary Inferno: 7-3 Win

Back in Calgary, we look to recover and start a new streak.

The 1st period passes with no real action, so we'll wait for the second to get things going. Mu Wisconsin draws first blood a minute in, and Calgary responds 28 seconds later. The game slows down, but in quick succession, Hai Nam Hoang, Binko Koivu, and Mu Wisconsin score in just two minutes to end the period. Just like that, it's 4-1.

The 3rd is just as crazy. Adelie de Pengu gets on the board, but Calgary claws back to make it 5-3, but two power plays let Spack Jarrow @High Stick King and Hoang push the lead to 7-3.

Hai Nam Hoang has a stellar 5-point night, but Jarrow nearly matches him. In 17 minutes of ice time, he has a goal and three assists. It's a statement win and a feel-good win.

-----

Game 23 vs. New England Wolfpack: 4-2 Win

How about it, the Minnesota Monarchs, playing the conservative game.

At home in Minnesota, a barrage of shots brings no goals until the final minute, when Outdoor Truck scores to get the Wolfpack up early.

The 2nd is our period, though. Spack Jarrow keeps up his hot run, and he helps Oles Kobliska get on the board in the same shift. Just like that, we've got the lead back.

Midway through the 3rd, Jeff Goldblum ties it at 2, but our depth and defense stay strong, as Nevek Kove scores on the power play, and Mu Wisconin gets another in the empty net to score.

It's a 3rd line victory for this team as they combine for 8 points tonight. Boy, depth feels good.

-----

Game #24 vs. Seattle Argonauts: 7-4 Win

Riots in the stands! The Monarchs are down 3-1 in the 1st period! By god, what happened!

Anyway, Lazer Gato scores to make it 3-2 late in the 2nd, but Gewmba Stolemamoney scores to pad Seattle's lead. Dear god! We're losing 4-2 in the 2nd!

Anyway, the Monarchs proceed to pound the Argos into powder in the 3rd. Jules scores. Knight scores. Koivu scores. Kobliska (on the PK, of course) scores, and Hoang finishes them off with an empty netter.

Yes, it was a little ugly getting there but we win, and we win in a big way. Riot prevented. On to the next game.

-----

Game #25 vs. Seattle Argonauts: 6-3 Win

Seattle again! Yay!

Nevek Kove scores again late into the 1st, but so far this is a penalty parade.

In the 2nd, Meta Knight scores to pad the lead, but late into it Seattle gets one on the board to half our lead.

In the 3rd, Squidwardo Tentacles scores to tie the game, but Adelie de Pengu, Julian Florsch, and Oles Kobliska (shorthanded) give Minnesota a definitive lead. Though they strike on the powerplay midway through the period, it does no good, as Meta Knight scores in the 18th minute to seal it.

It's another wild win for the Monarchs, but the key result is thus: We're still winning, and a deficit is not a guaruntee that we'll go down to defeat.

-----

Game #26 vs. Tampa Bay Barracuda: 5-3 Loss

Darn.

At Amalie Arena, our luck runs out. Though Florsch scored twice and our 1st line comes to play, our tempo can't match Tampa Bay.

-----

Game #27 vs. New Orleans Specters: 4-1 Loss

Darn again, the same story. We're playing hard but losing steam early and late, only putting up enough of a fight in the 2nd period.

The bright spot again is Jules Florsch, who scores in his 4th straight game.

-----

Game #28 vs. New Orleans Specters: 5-1 Loss



-----

Game #29 vs. Texas Renegades: 8-7 Loss

In American Airlines Center, we have a good-old fashioned gunfight on our hands.

At high noon at the drop of the puck, 30 shots are exchanged between both teams. 8 goals find their mark, with an Oles Kobliska (shorthanded) tally, a Binko Koivu strike, a Lazer Gato blast, and a Hai Nam Hoang goal on the power play leaving the period tied at 4.

The 2nd is no better for the two poor goalies on duty. Marton Diehm and Petr Svoboda score to take the lead, but Meta Knight strikes to get us within one.

In the 3rd, it remains a dogfight. Emil Egli gets on the board to tie the game, but Mads McBride responds with a shorthanded chance. A minute later, Adelie de Pengu scores on the power play, giving us the tie, but Jack McCarthy responds in the middle of the frame, and that score holds.

It's clear a tempered tone and tempo will do us good as we're all over the place on every shift, gassed after every effort, and that's not good for a team trying to accommodate young players. As we move forward, we'll be committing to a new pace of play.

-----

Game #30 vs. Texas Renegades: 5-2 Loss

Hockey is a brutal mistress. From a 5-game win streak to a 5-game loss streak, we head home to face the Renegades again.

Marton Diehm, again, is eating us alive, and we're behind 1-0 to end the 1st. The 2nd starts no better, as David Doug grabs a shorty from our woefully underachieving power play. We're not out yet, though, as Kevin Kim scores a minute later, and Oles Kobliska gets ANOTHER shorty late in the frame. All of a sudden, game is tied.

And it stays tied not for long, as Chris Valentine, James Dion, and Patrice Bergeron scores in the 3rd to put us away.

It's a bitter game, but there is a takeaway. Even with 2 games and 13 goals, our esteemed former friend Lasse Zeigler doesn't get a point against his former team. Small victories.

-----

Game #31 vs. Winnipeg Aurora: 3-1 Win

At last, sweet victory comes to us again.

In snowy Winnipeg, it's time to get off the mat early. Gordie Gibbles gets his 10th of the season late in the frame, and in the final minute, Meta Knight collects his 20th.

We close them out in the 2nd, as Lazer Gato, hot down the stretch, scores again to get us 3. Noel Blanchet gets one in the 3rd to ruin the shutout, but that's all they can manage.

Jeff Newman doesn't have to work late, stopping 23/24 to post a .958 save percentage.

-----

Game #32 vs. Toronto North Stars: 7-2 Win

At home, we finally get a crack at this blowout thing we've been the victim of up to now.

Toronto gets on the board first and early, but we are a bend-not-break team now. Meta Knight responds in kind with two of his own. Seconds after his 2nd, Gordon-William Gibbles strikes to make it 3-1. Two minutes after that, Emil Egli gets one to make it 4 on the period.

The 2nd is quiet until the end, when a power play springs Hai Nam Hoang, who gets the lead to 5 entering the 3rd. In that period, Knight completes his hat trick, Svatos tries to stop the bleeding, and Jules Florsch keeps up his great season.

Knight's hat trick caps off a great game for the offense, but the defense gets in on the action, with 4/6 defensemen getting on the scoresheet. A feel good win, something we've been missing.

-----

Game #33 vs Los Angeles Panthers: 4-1 Loss

We hit the halfway point of the season with a resounding thud.

Oles Kobliska gets us going with a power play goal, but after that, we're smothered by LA's potent forecheck, and we get nothing going for the rest of the game. All the more bitterly, Alexi Piastri and Elena Maximova combine for a goal in the 2nd.

One to forget, but important, as we take stock. At the break, we're 18-13-2, our penalty kill is potent, but our power play needs work. Hoang and Knight look to be elite contributors at an all-SHL level. The entire team is at a great pace, but we're hoping for brighter days ahead.

(Word Count: 2255)