Cleveland Monsters (2) at Chicago Wolves (4)

Attendance: 14,120

Starters

Monsters

Wolves

Goal Recap

Markus Hannikainen put the Monsters on the board first a little over a minute into the game. Alex Petan was able to feed the puck to Hannikainen who popped it in past Pheonix Copley.

A minute later, Petteri Lindbohm fired a blast from the point to tie things up. Korpisalo was screened and couldn't see anything coming his way.

The Wolves claimed the lead eleven minutes into the first period when Magnus Paajarvi fired one in over Joonas Korpisalo's left shoulder.

The Monsters had their chance to tie things up in the second period. With three minutes and 20 seconds left in the second, T.J. Tynan sent the puck in front and it bounced off of Copley's pad into the net.

Halfway through the third, Vince Dunn launched a shot from just below the blue line to give the Wolves the lead, 3-2.

Chris Butler sealed the deal on the game when he scored on the empty net with a little under two minutes to play in the game.

But Wait! There's More

Quick Thoughts

• After having a successful week with the Monsters, Akim Aliu was promoted to the first line where he was able to help set up some great plays.
• In Monday's recap, I touched on the importance of elevation. The Monsters haven't been elevating the puck enough. Today, the Monsters did the exact opposite. They had trouble keeping the puck below the crossbar. They need to find the healthy balance between high and low shots so they can score more goals.
• Sonny Milano returned to the game after being out for most of the road trip. He eased back into the game and shined on the penalty kill.
• Ryan Stanton proved to be a missing piece while he was out for 13 games. Until today, I didn't realize the amount of good solid play and grit he brought to the game.

3 Stars

1^st – Vince Dunn (1g, 1a)

2^nd – Magnus Paajarvi (1g, 1a)

3^rd – Alex Petan (0g, 1a)

What's Next

The Monsters travel to Charlotte, North Carolina to take on the Checkers in a back-to-back weekend series.

Then, the Monsters come home to play on the 28^th of February before heading back out on the road.