The Cleveland Monsters returned home from a lengthy road trip and took on the Rochester Americans Wednesday. Losing by a score of 3-2. This was the second consecutive loss for the Cleveland Monsters.
1st Period
Remi Elie gave Rochester an early 1-0 lead over Cleveland with a goal 3:44 into the game.
The Monsters were having a difficult time getting the puck out of their defensive zone. This did Veini Vehvilanien zero favors. Constant pressure on a goalie is never good and that is just what Vehvilainen saw early in the game.
Cleveland saw themselves down a man with just under nine minutes to go in the 1st period due to an Anton Karlsson penalty for holding an opponents stick. The Monsters successfully killed the penalty and were back to full strength without giving up a goal.
Casey Mittelstadt scored for Rochester with just over 3 minutes remaining in the 1st period, giving the Americans a 2-0 lead.
Rochester (12) finished with more shots than Cleveland (10) in the 1st period. Not exactly a recipe for success.
2nd Period
The Monsters were on a power play very early on in the 2nd period. Unfortunately they were unable to make anything of it and Rochester successfully killed the penalty.
With just under 15 minutes remaining in the period Karlsson was called for boarding, resulting in a two-minute penalty. For the second time Cleveland was able to avoid giving up a goal while shorthanded.
Brett Gallant was called for high-sticking, this led to a four minute penalty. Cleveland went on the offensive even though they were shorthanded and Ryan MacInnis scored an unassisted goal to cut the Americans lead to just one. Cleveland was able to navigate being down a man for four minutes without surrendering a goal.
The Monsters were able to cut the deficit in half in the 2nd Period thanks to four more shots on goal than Rochester (9-5).
3rd Period
Marko Dano tied the game at 2 with 6:27 gone in the 3rd period. Assisting on the goal were Ryan MacInnis and Markus Hannikainen.
A Rochester penalty with 11:04 to go in the 3rd led to a power play opportunity for the Monsters. Cleveland was not able to convert on the power play and shortly after were shorthanded due to a Calvin Thurkauf slashing penalty. Cleveland came out unscathed from this penalty and kept the game tied.
Neither team would score in the remainder of the 3rd period and the game would head to overtime.
Overtime
The game went to a 3-on-3 sudden death overtime. Rochester was able to score with 1:36 left in overtime to end the game.
The Monsters had momentum on their side for the majority of the game, coming back from two goals down. Rochester just seized the opportunity to win the game with just over a minute and a half left to play.
Cleveland will look to get back on the right track Friday as they host the Toronto Marlies.
