Tag Archives: Brendan Gaunce

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.

Brendan Gaunce clears waivers, sent to CLE

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The forward has been sent to the Cleveland Monsters after clearing waivers.

The Columbus Blue Jackets placed 28-year old forward Brendan Gaunce on waivers earlier this week and after clearing waivers has been sent to the Cleveland Monsters. This is just a continuation of Columbus’ roster trim down ahead of the regular season.

This is the second year in the Blue Jackets system for Brendan Gaunce who spent near equal time with Cleveland and Columbus last season. Gaunce totaled seven points (five goals, two assists) in 30 games with Columbus while tallying 28 points (16 goals, 12 asissts) in 39 games with the Monsters. It would not be a surprise to see things play out in a similar manner for Gaunce this season.

Brendan Gaunce signs two-year two-way deal

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It was a busy day of the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday as they agreed to a two-way deal with veteran center Brendan Gaunce. The 28-year old forward had a fairly even split between Cleveland (39 games) and Columbus (30 games) last season. Gaunce was going to be an unrestricted free agent prior to the deal.

Gaunce was the second signee for the Blue Jackets organization as they also signed Liam Foudy to an extension.

Brendan Gaunce finished with 16 goals and 12 assists with the Monsters last season while scoring five times and assisting on two others with the Blue Jackets. Gaunce was tied with Justin Scott and Carson Meyer for Cleveland’s goalscoring leader. More of the same should be expected from Gaunce during his stay with the club.

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 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 crush Crunch 8-3

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The Cleveland Monsters got a much needed win as they dominated the Syracuse Crunch.

Losers of four straight, the Cleveland Monsters desperately needed to get back in the win column. Lucky for Cleveland their opponent was someone who they have had some success against this season, the Syracuse Crunch. The Monsters had back-to-back wins against the Crunch in mid-November and were able to enforce their will yet again in a dominant victory.

It was a four goal onslaught from Cleveland in the 1st period as they were able to build an insurmountable lead. The Monsters were even able to build their lead up to five before temporarily letting the Crunch back into the game. Cleveland surrendered three power play goals in just over five minutes as Syracuse cut the lead to two. The Mosnters were able to regain their composure in the 3rd period, scoring three more times in the 3rd period to cement their 8-3 win.

The impressive aspect of this win is that Cleveland attempted just 16 shots on goal compared to Syracuse’s 35. Cleveland also managed to go 2-4 on power plays while Syracuse went 3-7 in the contest.

Game notes

Goal scorers for the Monsters included Trey Fix-Wolansky (5), Cole Fonstad (2), Adam Helewka (3,4,5), Billy Sweezey (2), Justin Scott (5), and Josh Dunne (4). Helewka’s hat trick earned 1st star honors in the win.

Assisting on goals were Tim Berni (3,4), Sweezey (3), Liam Foudy (9), Kevin Stenlund (8,9), Fix-Wolanksy (3), Helewka (10), Fonstad (1,2), Brendan Gaunce (9), and Cole Clayton (3,4).

Jean-Francois Berube started in net for Cleveland, saving 32 of 35 shots on goal. This was the second straight game for Berube allowing three goals, allowing a total of 18 goals over his past five games.

The Monsters currently sit in third place in the AHL North Division with 25 points with a 5-4-1 record over their past 10 games. Cleveland will travel to Utica to face the Comets Friday as they look to defeat the division leader and close the gap in the standings.

Brendan Gaunce named AHL Player of the Week

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The American Hockey League has named Brendan Gaunce of the Cleveland Monsters as their Player of the Week.

It was quite a week for Brendan Gaunce as he was named the Player of the Week by the AHL. The Monsters  center scored three goals and assisted on three others en route to totaling six points in two games.

Brendan Gaunce has been a nice find for the Cleveland Monsters. The 27-year old leads the team in goals this season (7) and is tied for second in points (13).

Monsters defeat Marlies 6-5 in overtime

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It was a productive trip north of the border for the Cleveland Monsters as they defeated the Toronto Marlies in overtime.

Finding themselves down 4-1 late in the 2nd, the Cleveland Monsters managed to outscore the Toronto Marlies 4-1 in order to force overtime. In the overtime period it was a clutch power play goal from Tyler Sikura to seal the Cleveland victory.

Even though the Monsters held a massive edge on the shots on goal department through the first two period (33-19), they were only able to score twice during that time. Overall Cleveland outshot Toronto 47-28 as they attempted 12 shots in the 3rd and two in overtime.

After two games which saw Daniil Tarasov only allow one goal in each, Tarasov allowed five on 28 shots in the win. This was the third time this season that Tarasov allowed five goals in game, both games were losses (6-4 to Syracuse, 6-2 Belleville).

Scoring notes

Jake Christiansen (4) scored the first goal of the game, giving the Monsters an early lead 4:12 into the 1st period.

Down 4-1 late in the 2nd, Liam Foudy scored his fourth goal of the season with the recently assigned Kevin Stenlund assisting on the goal (3).

Brendan Gaunce scored 23 seconds into the 3rd to bring Cleveland a within one goal. It was the seventh goal of the season for Gaunce who got some assistance from Trey Fix-Wolansky (1) and Tyler Angle (12).

Just over five minutes later Carson Meyer (5) tied the game. Adam Helewka (6) and Christiansen (9) were credited with assists on the goal.

After giving up the lead midway through the period, it was Fix-Wolansky coming to the rescue as he scored his second goal of the campaign with just 1:39 left to play. Fix-Wolansky got some help from Gaunce (5) and Stenlund (4) on the game-tying goal.

In overtime it was Tyler Sikura who redirected a shot from Christiansen into the net giving the Monsters the win. Christiansen (10) received an assist as did Gaunce (6).

The Monsters return home Friday to take on the Marlies at home before returning to Toronto Saturday for their third matchup in as many games. 

Monsters defeat Crunch 5-1

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The Cleveland Monsters were unstoppable as they managed to come away with a 5-1 victory over the Syracuse Crunch.

It was a 5-1 final score and everyone got out alive, but the Cleveland Monsters knew they had the numbers, going to win, and take over. Cleveland was dominant from the start as they came away with a four goal victory over the Syracuse Crunch.

The Monsters were able to be a force in the offensive zone thought out the game and they took advantage. Cleveland outshot Syracuse 32-24, holding nine and three shot advantages in the first and third periods.

It was a rather quick start for Cleveland as Brendan Gaunce scored his first of two goals on an assist from Adam Helewka (5) 4:27 into the game.

Trey Fix-Wolansky scored his first goal of the season in his season debut. Assisting on the goal was Gaunce (4) and Thomas Schemitsch (2).

After Syracuse scored it was Cole Cassels scoring his second goal of the campaign unassisted.

In the 3rd period it was Justin Scott who increased the Mosnters lead to three with his third goal of the season. Billy Sweezey was credited with an assist on the goal, his second.

Gaunce scored his second. goal of the game with a little over five minutes left in the game as Tyler Angle registered his team-high 11th assist.

In net was Daniil Tarasov, building off his last outing. Tarasov saved 23 of 24 shots as managed to allow just one goal for the second straight game.

The Monsters are off on Saturday, but return to action Sunday in Toronto to take on the Marlies. 

Monsters lose in shootout to Senators 3-2

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The Cleveland Monsters lost their second straight game against the Belleville Senators.

Friday night did not provide a particularly close contest as the Cleveland Monsters lose by four goals to the Belleville Senators. While the final score on Saturday was a lot closer, Cleveland was still on the losing end. Cleveland found themselves in their fourth shootout in six games and like two of the others, it was a loss. Belleville’s Jake Lucchini scored the only shootout goal, getting the puck by Jean-Francois Berube. Excluding the shootout, Berube saved 31 of 33 shots on goal in the 3-2 loss.

After a scoreless 1st period, both Cleveland and Belleville managed to score in the 2nd. Cole Cassels gave the Monsters a 1-0 lead with his first goal of the season. Justin Scott (2) was credited with an assist on the goal. Belleville would answer less than five minutes later to tie the game.

The Senators took the lead about five minutes into the 3rd period, applying some pressure to the Monsters. With just over two minutes left in the 3rd it was Brendan Gaunce who scored the game-tying goal for Cleveland. Justin Danforth (3) and Tyler Angle (9) both registered assists on the goal.

The Monsters have Gaunce, Adam Helewka, and Cassels participate in the shootout with all three coming up empty.

Cleveland is currently in fourth place in the AHL North Division with 12 points, but behind on winning percentage. The Monsters will travel to Rochester to face the Americans next weekend in a crucial back-to-back against a divisional opponent.