Category Archives: Game Recaps

Monsters bottom out in Utica, lose 5-1

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It was a rough night for Cleveland in Utica as the Monsters found themselves on the wrong end of a 5-1 final score.

Coming into Friday’s matchup there were two losing streaks that the Cleveland Monsters were trying to snap. A current two-game losing streak overall and a streak of the same length against the Utica Comets. Unfortunately both streaks remain intact as Cleveland could not crack the Comets, losing 5-1.

The Monsters lone goal in the contest came late in the 2nd period courtesy of Emil Bemstrom. Bemstrom was able to capitalize on one of Cleveland’s three power play opportunities for his team-leading fifth goal of the season. Assisting on the goal was Marcus Bjork and Kirill Marchenko with their third and fourth assists of the season.

Starting in net for just the second time this season was Pavel Cajan and it was not a good outing. Cajan allowed four goals on 27 shots in 59:09 minutes of ice time. Unlike his last outing Cajan was not saved by the Monsters goal scoring. The 20-year old netminder was able to get by allowing three goals due to Cleveland scoring four in an overtime win over Lehigh Valley.

It is a quick turnaround for Cleveland as they will head to Syracuse to try and get back on the right tack. The Monsters and Crunch previously played in back-to-back shootouts with Cleveland coming out on top both times. This will be the third of four matchups with Syracuse this season with their final taking place in early-March.

Monsters lose to Penguins 5-1

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The Cleveland Monsters lost to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins 5-1, their second consecutive road loss.

What could have been a fun night out like The Dundies turned into Scott’s Tots real quick Wednesday. The Cleveland Monsters were no match for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, the 5-1 final score was an indicator of that.

Wilkes-Barre Scranton scored three times before Cleveland was able to find the back of the net for the first time. It was a Cole Fonstad power play goal that finally got the Monsters on the scoreboard. It was Fonstad’s of the season with Samuel Knazko (1) and Jake Christiansen (4) being credited with assists. This goal was a nothing burger as they were unable to score again while the Penguins scored two more times.

It was another rough night in net for Jet Greaves, allowing five goals for the third time this season. While two of the goals were of the rebound variety, Greaves did not get a ton of help from his teammates. Wilkes-Barre Scranton’s fourth goal of the game came when the Monsters defenders were as effective as the Michael Scott Paper Company’s business plan.

With the loss Cleveland has dropped into fourth place in the AHL North Division with six points in six games. The Monsters have allowed the most goals in the AHL this season (25) and that is something that needs to be corrected as soon as possible. If not, this current two-game losing streak could build and make their season come to an early end. Cleveland has two more road games before returning home November 4th. Earning a split on these next two games would go a long way for the Monsters and their outlook for the season.

Monsters drop two of three on road trip

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The Cleveland Monsters six-game road trip did not get off to a good start as they lost two of their three games over the weekend.

The prospect of playing six consecutive games on the road to close out the month of October was always going to be tough for the Cleveland Monsters. Coming away with just one win in three contests is disappointing, yet unsurprising. Playing on the road in the AHL is tough enough, there days in a row is even more difficult. Add in the fact that Cleveland is a team in transition and the results from the weekend are expected.

The disappointing aspect of the weekend is that Utica won their first game of the season against the Monsters. While it is early in the season and the Comets were going to win eventually, it is a bit more comforting to not be the team a formerly winless club gets their first win of the season against. The split against Lehigh Valley is nice and so is winning in non-shootout fashion. The next step for Cleveland is finding a way to win in regulation as the win over the Phantoms came in overtime.

Skater stats

Kirill Marchenko (4), Brendan Gaunce (1 PP, 2, 3), Justin Richards (1), Emil Bemstrom (3,4), Trey Fix-Wolansky (2,3), and Carson Meyer (2) all scored for the Monsters over the weekend.

Assisting on those goals were David Jiricek (1,2,3,4), Gavin Beyrether (1,2,3), Jake Christiansen (3) Bemstrom (2,3,4,5), Marchenko (2,3), Meyer (2,3,4), and Richards (3).

Between the pipes

Goaltending duties were split between Jet Greaves and Pavel Cajan. Greaves saved 51 of 59 shots on goal across two games with eight goals allowed. Cajan allowed three goals on 30 shots in his lone appearance. Cajan’s appearance in the second game of the weekend was the Monsters only win in their three games.

Looking at the Standings

Even with the disappointing weekend the Monsters spot in the standings was not subject to a fall. Cleveland and Rochester currently both has 6 points on the year, the most in the AHL North Division. While the Americans have two regulation wins to Cleveland’s zero, it is the Monsters who have outscored the Americans 21-15. Additionally Cleveland is one of just two teams in the division with a positive goal differential (21-20), the other being the Syracuse Crunch (18-17).

What’s ahead

The Monsters will close out the remainder of their six-game road trip beginning Wednesday. Cleveland will be taking on the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins as they look to get back in the win column. After that it is a return trip to Utica and their first visit to Syracuse to finish things up.

Monsters sitting pretty after shootout wins

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Back-to-back wins against the Syracuse Crunch have the Cleveland Monsters off to a good start.

The Cleveland Monsters are coming off a disappointing year which saw the team win just 28 games and miss the playoffs with just 69 points on the season. Expectations were not necessarily high for this season, but they find themselves in a good spot early on. Through the first two games the Cleveland Monsters have come out on top and are tied atop the AHL North Division with four points.

The Monsters hold a slim two goal advantage in the goals for and against department (11-9) and this does not include any scored in a shootout. The Monsters have converted on four of six shootout attempts while their opponent (Syracuse) only made two of seven. While winning in a shootout fashion is not sustainable, being able to do so early is a nice boost for the season.

Goal scorers

The leading goalscorer for the Monsters this season is Kirill Marchenko with three goals including one shootout goal. Emil Bemstron is second with two goals, also one shootout goal. Trey Fix-Wolansky, Marcus Bjork, Carson Meyer, and Dillon Simpson each have scored one goal. Fix-Wolansky’s goal was a shootout goal while the other three Cleveland players scored in regulation.

Goaltending

Jet Greaves was in net for both games and has saved 60 of 69 shots on goal and five of seven in shootouts. Greaves’ .870 save percentage and 4.16 goals against average are far from ideal and improvement in this area is needed.

Upcoming games

Cleveland will head out on their first road trip of the season this weekend. The Monsters begin with a single game against the Utica Comets. They will then take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for two games over the next two days. Cleveland’s road trip actually lasts the rest of the month, presenting an early test for the Monsters. Should they be successful it would be an encouraging sign for what could be a promising season.

Monsters swept at home

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It was a rough weekend of hockey for the Cleveland Monsters as they lost all three games at home by a combined 12-4 score.

Based off their matchup earlier in the week, the Cleveland Monsters were going to have a tough time with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Cleveland lost 5-1 earlier in the week on the road and similar results would follow for their two games at home.

Their first matchup resulted in a 4-0 loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scanton while accumulating 31 total penalty minutes. The second game was not much a better, a 5-2 loss with goals coming after the game was essentially already decided. Cleveland scored their first after being down 3-0 and their second down 4-1.

When the Monsters hosted Utica things actually appeared to be heading on a different trajectory. Down 2-0 early in the 2nd, Cleveland rallied to tie the game at 2 midway in the period. It was a Utica goal 4:15 into the final period which resulted in the Comets being victorious.

These results are disappointing, but not unexpected. Cleveland has allowed 126 goals this season, third-most in the Eastern Conference while scoring just 104 times which is 10th overall. Cleveland has 33 points in 37 games this season and is in seventh place due to percentage in the AHL North Division. The Monsters have a few days off before taking on the Toronto Marlies to Thursday as they continue their home stand.

Monsters lose to Crunch 3-1

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The Cleveland Monsters were not able to get back into the win column, losing to the Syracuse Crunch 3-1.

All it takes to change the game is a power play goal. That was the case twice in Wednesday’s contest, but unfortunately the Cleveland Monsters were on the penalty kill both times. This would result in Cleveland losing to the Syracuse Crunch 3-1 as they ended their brief road trip.

An interference penalty from Cole Fonstad late in the 1st period resulted in Syracuse’s first goal. Cleveland was almost successful in killing the penalty, but with 12 seconds left the Crunch were able to score. The 2nd  period was a similar set of circumstances. This time it was a delay of game penalty on Brendan Gaunce and just 54 seconds later Syracuse doubled their lead. These two goals were the only goals allowed by Jet Greaves, who saved 23 of 25 shots in the loss.

After setting up the Crunch with a power play in the 2nd, it was Gaunce who gave the Monsters a brief glimmer of hope late in the 3rd with this 15th goal of the season. Trey Fix-Wolansky (7) and Jake Christiansen (16) were each credited with assists on the play.

Just a minute and a half later it was the Crunch taking advantage of an empty net, scoring an insurance goal with a little over two minutes remaining. The third and final goal from Syracuse sealed the deal and handed Cleveland their second consecutive loss.

The Monsters will return home this weekend and take on their opponent from earlier this week, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

 

Monsters iced by Penguins 5-1

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The Cleveland Monsters had their hands full with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Monday, losing by a score of 5-1.

It was not a good day at the office for the Cleveland Monsters as their trip to take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins went about as well as Michael Scott at his nighttime telemarking job. The Penguins were able to race out to a comfortable 5-0 lead with less than 5 minutes remaining in the 2nd period and would not be threatened by the Monsters whatsoever. Jean-Francois Berube started in net for Cleveland, allowing three goals on nine shots in less than 20 minutes of ice time. Jet Greaves would play the final 40 minutes, allowing two goals on 14 shots.

The Monsters were able to avoid being shut out with a goal from Justin Scot early in the 3rd period. It was Scott’s sixth goal of the season with Tristan Mullin (2) and Dillon Simpson (7) registering assists on the play.

This game did not come down to shots as Cleveland held a 32-23 advantage in that department. Wilkes-Barre/Scanton was just able to execute better than Cleveland, a common theme this season.

The Monsters have 33 points in 33 games this season, sitting in sixth place in the AHL North Division. Cleveland has gone 3-5-2 in their last 19 games with losses in three of their last four. It will be just one off day on Tuesday as a trip to Syracuse is on the schedule for Wednesday to take on the Crunch.

 

Monsters lose to Griffins 5-3

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The Cleveland Monsters took on the Grand Rapids Griffins, losing their third game over their last five.

It was a Tuesday evening matchup between the Cleveland Monsters and Grand Rapids Griffins. Cleveland has split their last two matchups with Grand Rapids and the Monsters were looking to take a 2-1 lead in their season series.

The 1st period saw both teams scoring in the first 8+ minutes. Grand Rapids struck first and Cleveland tied the game back up just a few minutes later. Tyler Angle (3) scored the first Monsters goal of the game being assisted by Tyler Sikura (9) and Tim Berni (8).

Grand Rapids took a comfortable 3-1 lead in the 2nd period as the Griffins tallied two goals. The second goal came 4:36 into the period as the Monsters were on their first of three penalty kills.

Cleveland was able to draw within one early in the 3rd as Angle scored again for his fourth goal of the year. Carson Meyer (3) was the lone player credited with an assist on the player. Unfortunately this was as close as Cleveland would get as the Griffins would score two more goals in the period increasing their total to 5. The Monsters were able to score once more, Adam Helewka (6) added Cleveland’s final goal with Dillion Simpson (4) and Thomas Schemitsch (5) assisting on the play.

Jean-Francois Berube was Cleveland’s goaltender and it was not a good outing. Berube allowed five goals on 31 shots in the loss. The last time Berube allowed less than three goals in a game was back on November 6 in a 3-2 shootout loss to Belleville.

The Monsters now sit in sixth place in the AHL North Division with 31 points in 30 games. Cleveland will have a chance to regroup this weekend as they head out on the road to face the Utica Comets for a weekend series. 

Monsters chased by Comets in 3-2 OT loss

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The Monsters had a chance to defeat Utica, but the Comets came through late handing Cleveland a 3-2 overtime loss.

It was the final minutes of regulation and the game was tied at 1, overtime appeared inevitable. But then a clutch goal from Brendan Gaunce gave the Monsters a 2-1 lead with less than a minute and a half to go. Suddenly things changed, it seemed like victory was assured and Cleveland would take down the Comets. Problem was Utica had other ideas. Less than a minute after Gaunce’s goal there were two events that would shape the game.

At 19;22 elapsed in the 3rd period the Comets tied the game at 2.

At 19:42 Kevin Stenlund received a two-minute slashing penalty giving Utica a power play. 

The latter would prove to be the nail in the coffin as just as Cleveland’s penalty kill nearly did the impossible of stopping a power play in overtime, Utica scored and the Monsters existed the ice and could only possibly be thinking about how close they were to winning this game.

Game Notes

Kevin Stenlund scored in the 1st period to tie the game at 1 and send the crowd into a frenzy on Teddy Bear Toss Night.  It was Stenlund’s third of the season with Liam Foudy assisting on hi1 11th.

Gaumce’s goal late in the 3rd was his eighth of the year with Trey Fix Wolansky (4) and Cole Fonstad (3) assisting on the goal.

Daniil Tarasov was in net, saving 23 of 26 shots on goal. The month of December has not been kind to Tarasov as he has allowed seven goals in two games while allowing 2.67 goals over six games in November.

The Monsters remain in fourth place in the AHL North Division with 26 points in 24 games. Cleveland will have a few days off before welcoming the Chicago Wolves to town on Wednesday. 

Monsters lose to Phantoms in Lehigh Valley 4-2

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The Cleveland Monsters allowed three unanswered goals as they lost to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms by a score of 4-2.

Midway through the 2nd period things appeared to be going according to plan for the Cleveland Monsters. Cleveland held a 2-1 lead over the eighth place Phantoms and were in position to come away with a win in Lehigh Valley. The remainder of the game did not go Cleveland’s way as they allowed three unanswered goals in what would be a 4-2 loss.

It was not for a lack of trying as the Monsters actually held the advantage in the shots on goal department over the final two periods (22-15). An ill-timed tripping penalty on Olivier LeBlanc gave the Phantoms a power play opportunity which proved to be a catalyst for the rest of the game. In less than a 12 minute span of game time, Lehigh Valley scored three times taking a 4-2 lead with just 3:45 elapsed in the 3rd period which end up as the final score.

Scoring for Cleveland was Cole Clayton in the 1st period on one of their two power play chances. It was the first goal of the season for Clayton while Kevin Stenlund (10) and Josh Dunne (4) assisting on the play. The Monsters second and final goal of the game came midway in the 2nd as Tyler Sikura netted his sixth of the season. Thomas Schemitsch (4) and Liam Foudy (10) each were credited with an assist on the play.

Daniil Tarasov retuned to his place in between the pipes after returning to Cleveland from Columbus earlier in the week. Tarasov allowed four goals on 31 shots, just the second time in his last five AHL appearances allowing more than one goal.

The loss now has the Monsters sitting in fourth place in the AHL North Division with 25 points in 23 games. A two game home stand against first place Utica begins Thursday night as they look to snap their current two-game losing streak.