Monsters fall short 3-2 in Rockford
The Cleveland Monsters were unable to defeat the Rockford IceHogs for the second straight game.
It was the second of the two rescheduled games between the Cleveland Monsters and Rockford IceHogs after they were postponed earlier this season. While the Monsters came away with a easy victory on Monday, the same did not apply to Tuesday’s matchup as Cleveland lost 3-2.
The scoring started in the 2nd period after a scoreless 1st. Tyler Sikura got his first goal of the season while taking on his former club. Nathan Gerbe and Dillon Simpson were both credited with their third assist of the season on the goal. Rockford would tie things up later in the period on an Evan Barratt goal.
Nearly midway through the 3rd period the Monsters again took the lead. This time it was Evan Polei scoring his first goal of the season with Justin Scott assisting. Like Cleveland’s lead in the 2nd, this lead would not last. The IceHogs scored twice over the final four minutes as they ended up sending the Monsters home with a loss.
Veini Vehvilainen got the start in goal for the first time this season and made 21 saves on 24 shots, a 0.875 save percentage. Cleveland will be looking for Vehvilainen to improve in this department as the season progresses.
Cleveland was 1 for 3 on the power play, the aforementioned Sikura goal being their only conversion with an advantage. The Monsters had two penalties on the evening, Trey Fix-Wolansky was called for tripping in the 1st and Thomas Schemitsch got into a fight late in the 3rd and received a 5 minute penalty.
