The Cleveland Monsters will head out on a six-game road trip that will last the remainder of the month.
After a successful two game stand against the Syracuse Crunch, the Cleveland Monsters will head out on the road. Cleveland embarks on a six-game road trip that will keep them out of town until November. The Monsters will take on the Utica Comets, Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. Three of their four upcoming opponents made the postseason last year and advancing to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Utica dominated Cleveland last year which saw the Monsters drop six of their eight matchups. The AHL North Division champs outscored Cleveland 26-22 in their season series. Utica has only completed one game this season, a loss to the Hershey Bears while their second game against Wilkes-Barre Scranton was suspended.
Cleveland faired well against their opponent least season, Lehigh Valley. The Monsters won three of four against the Phantoms with a positive five goal differential (12-7). Lehigh Valley has split their first two games of the season while scoring and allowing the same amount of goals (4).
Wilkes-Barre Scranton was a tough opponent for Cleveland last year, losing three of four matchups and being outscored 16-6. The Penguins lone completed game was an overtime loss to Lehigh Valley.
Cleveland split their eight-game series with the Crunch last year with four wins apiece. The Monsters edged out Syracuse in the goal-scoring department with a slim 27-25 advantage. So far this season it is also a two-goal margin for Cleveland 11-9 excluding shootout goals.
The Monsters will definitely have a fair shot on this road trip to still be in a good position in the standings when it concludes. It is going to come down to whether or not Cleveland can find a way to win in regulation or at least overtime and not a shootout.
