GAME 3 PREVIEW: BATON ROUGE KINGFISH AT MID-SOUTH MONARCHS

KINGFISH BEGIN THREE-IN-THREE

The Baton Rouge Kingfish travel to Southaven, Miss., to battle the Mid-South Monarchs at Landers Center to begin their first three-in-three of the season. 

It's the first-ever meeting between the Kingfish and Monarchs. 

The teams will square off tonight and tomorrow night in Southaven before the series concludes Sunday afternoon in Baton Rouge. 

BROADCAST COVERAGE

Kingfish Pregame at 6:45 p.m.

Streaming: Free-to-watch video on YouTube at www.youtube.com/@BatonRougeKingfish 

LAST TIME OUT

In their first road game in franchise history, the Kingfish scored five unanswered goals, including four in the third period, to defeat the Monroe Moccasins, 6-2, last Saturday at Monroe Civic Center. 

Jason Brancheau opened the scoring at 13:40 of the first period, burying a breakaway chance down the right wing. However, Monroe responded with two goals in less than four minutes to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. 

Tyler Williams netted his first goal of the season and the only tally of the middle frame at 5:36, slotting home a gorgeous cross-crease pass from Nick Ketola. 

For the second straight night, the Fish exploded for multiple goals early in the third period. Matt Stoia scored at 0:55 on the powerplay, and Dmitry Kuznetsov capitalized on a Monroe turnover 19 seconds later to put Baton Rouge up by two. 

Brancheau pumped in another powerplay strike at 8:43 en route to earning first-star honors. Scott Shorrock then netted the ultra-rare three-on-five shorthanded goal with 52 seconds remaining to put the finishing touch on Baton Rouge's second 6-2 win in as many nights. 

The Kingfish were stellar on special teams, converting on two of their five powerplays and killing all seven Moccasins' man advantages.

Ed Coffey racked up 35 saves for his second win of the season and was named the game's second star. 

COFFEY'S CAGE

Goaltender Ed Coffey earned both wins in between the pipes last weekend against Monroe. 

After facing just 19 shots on Friday, Coffey saw a much more steady diet of rubber Saturday night, turning aside 35 of 37 Monroe shots.

Coffey, 28, is back for his second season in Baton Rouge after appearing in a career-high 42 games last season. 

The Anchorage, Alaska, native has won his last five starts dating back to March 28.

BRANCHEAU'S BRINGIN' IT

Third-year forward Jason Brancheau leads the Kingfish with three goals after opening weekend and is tied for the team lead in points (4). 

The 27-year-old notched the game-winner Friday night and added a pair of tallies in Saturday's contest.

Brancheau joins the Kingfish for his third professional season after spending the first two years of his professional career with the SPHL's Knoxville Ice Bears. In 116 games, regular season and playoffs combined, he logged 59 points (22g, 37a).

SCOUTING THE MONARCHS

The Monarchs snapped their three-game losing streak last Saturday to earn a road win, 6-3, in Fresno for their first victory in club history despite being outshot 59-25. 

Forward Darion Benchich leads Mid-South with five points (3g, 2a) in the team's first four contests. No other skater has accrued more than two points.

In the crease, rookie Wyatt Friedlander stopped a remarkable 56 shots last Saturday against Fresno to pick up a win in his first career start.

Veteran Thomas Nappier started and lost Mid-South's first three contests, posting a 4.70 goals-against average and .899 save percentage.

Opponents are averaging 50 shots per game against the Monarchs through four games. Last weekend, the Falcons launched 56 on Friday and 59 on Saturday.