The Cleveland Monsters were not able to win their second consecutive game falling to the Rochester Americans by a score of 4-2 at home.
Matiss Kivlenieks got the start in net Wednesday, giving Veini Vehvilainen the night off to start their upcoming every other day schedule. Kivlenieks, along with Andrew Peek and Jakob Lilja returned to the Monsters Wednesday after being assigned by Columbus.
Ryan Collins, Steve Johnson, Justin Scott, Michael Prapavessis, Zac Dalpe, Markus Hannikainen, Brett Gallant, and Brad Thiessen were listed as inactive Wednesday.
1st period
The first six and a half minutes the game featured alternating attacks from both teams. The Monsters and Americans traded volleys without much success. Cleveland failed to register a shot on goal while Rochester managed five shots, all saved by Kivlenieks. Both teams appeared to be testing the waters to find out as much as possible about the opposing teams strategy.
Rochester struck first with a goal by Nathan Paetsch with 9:20 gone in the 1st period. Matiss Kivlenieks really didn’t have much of a chance to stop the shot on goal. Kivlenieks’ stick broke while he was attempting to play the puck from behind the net. Paetsch was able to corral the puck and fire it in to a rather defenseless goal giving the Americans an early 1-0 lead.
Mike Eaves believes that the way the first goal was scored was “an indication of how the whole night went”. Kivlenieks stick breaking when attempting to play the puck and having to do his best soccer goalie impression was an ominous sign quite early in the contest.
With 8:30 left in the period Rochester scored again. Kivlenieks had a tough task when it came to defending this shot. Rochester’s Sean Malone shot on goal and the puck deflected up into the air right in front of the net. Pascal Aquin proceeded to put the puck in the goal resulting in a 2-0 lead for Rochester.
Rochester had three times more shots on goal than Cleveland in the 1st period (15-5). The Americans were just the more skilled team and the scoreboard clearly showed just that.
2nd period
Just over a minute into the 2nd period and Calvin Thurkauf got the Monsters on the board. Thurkauf fired the puck right past Andrew Hammond and right into the back of the net. Recently assigned defenseman Jakob Lilja got the assist on the goal.
Rochester increased their lead back to two after Pascal Aquin’s second goal of the night (4:53). Aquin went right down the ice and was able to beat Kivlenieks to restore their two-goal lead.
Stefan Matteau was called for hooking at the 8:17 mark in the 2nd period, putting Rochester on the power play. The Monsters penalty kill sprung into action and prevented any further damage with Matteau in the penalty box.
With 5:31 left to play in the 2nd period the Cleveland Monsters found themselves on the power play for the first time in the game. The power play was off to a fairly rough start as Cleveland had a difficult time getting the puck out of their defensive zone. The Monsters were able to muster a few legitimate shots on goal after the initial struggle, but were unable to make anything of their power play chance.
The Monsters got caught with too many men on the ice resulting in a bench minor that was served by Kole Sherwood. Cleveland was able to fend off Rochester’s power play for the second time in the period.
Rochester attempted more shots on goal than Cleveland yet again (19-14). While the margin is closer than the 1st period, it is part of the reason why the Monsters found themselves down two goals for the second straight period.
3rd period
It didn’t take long for the Rochester Americans to turn their two-goal lead into a three-goal lead. With just over two minutes gone in the 3rd period Rochester’s Eric Cornel put the puck right between Matiss Kivlenieks legs to extend their lead.
Shortly after the Americans goal Cleveland found themselves down a man yet again. Defenseman Doyle Somerboy received a two-minute penalty for cross-checking. The Monsters penalty kill went to work and was able to foil the Americans power play for the third time.
Almost immediately after Doyle Somerboy exited the penalty box, Cleveland found themselves back on the penalty kill. Adam Clendening was called for tripping leading to another two-minute penalty. Cleveland prevented Rochester from scoring on their fourth power play opportunity of the game.
Cleveland was able to cut the lead back to two thanks to a goal from Trey Fix-Wolanksy, but that was as close as they would get. It was a 4-2 loss for the Cleveland Monsters as they were unable to build off their win against Utica Saturday.
Rochester absolutely dominated shots on goal in the contest. Nearly doubling Cleveland’s total (48-25). There comes a point when that many shots are attempted that eventually the puck will find the back of the net quite a few times. It’s up to the other team to fight their way back and score goals of their own. Cleveland was simply just unable to do that Wednesday.
Roster status of Kivlenieks, Lilja, and Peeke
Monsters head coach Mike Eaves stated after the game that they may not stay in Cleveland for long. Eaves said the following in regards to the statuses of Kivlenieks, Lilja, and Peeke, “I’m going to make a phone call after we’re done and chances are our lineup is going to be different on Friday”. Later adding that the late additions to their lineup presented some challenges due to not having the trio skate with the rest of the team.
