Connor Merrick lifted the New Hampshire Jr Monarchs to an 8-2 victory with a hat trick against the Springfield Pics.

Merrick got on the scoresheet 3:15 into the first period. He then added goals at 12:10 into the third and at 16:11 into the third.

New Hampshire gained an early advantage, leading 5-1 by the end of the first period.

The Jr Monarchs pulled out the victory even though they were hit with 24 penalty minutes.

New Hampshire made Pics' goalies to work without much rest, taking 61 shots and forcing 53 saves. Randall Smith made 13 stops and Ian Milosz made 40. The Jr Monarchs bested their season scoring average. New Hampshire has scored at the pace of 5.4 goals per game during the current campaign.

New Hampshire also got points from Stephen Wolf, who also registered one goal and one assist. New Hampshire also got a goal from Davis Algra as well. In addition, New Hampshire received assists from Brian Greene, who had three and Eric Grover, Shane Earley, Ty Anderson, James Jamieson, and Christopher Moquin, who each chipped in one.

The Jr Monarchs were unable to stop Springfield from sending pucks towards the net, and the Pics eventually piled up 31 shots on goal. Springfield's penalty killing units received substantial work throughout the game as the Pics finished with 24 penalty minutes.

Springfield was helped by Thane Schinabeck, who grabbed one goal. Schinabeck scored 7:27 into the first period to make the score 3-1 New Hampshire. Evan Amato provided the assist. Mario Fontanella also scored for Springfield.

New Hampshire's Cole Burack stopped 29 shots out of the 31 that he faced. The Jr Monarchs registered three goals on 10 power play opportunities. The Pics registered one goal on seven power play opportunities.