Cleveland Monsters (5) at Toronto Marlies (3)
Attendance: 6,404
Starters
Monsters
Broadhurst-Dalpe-DeSalvo
Cross-Cockerill
Berube
Marlies
Jooris-Bracco-Engvall
Rosen-Liljegren
Kaskisuo
Monsters Lines
Broadhurst-Dalpe-DeSalvo
Robinson-MacInnis-Gerbe
Thurkauf-Vigneault-Bittner
Gallant-Scott-Sherwood
Monsters Pairings
Cross-Cockerill
Prapavessis-Simpson
Somerby-Collins
Goal Recap
It was a beautiful day in Toronto as the Marlies raised their Calder Cup Championship banner. The Marlies wanted to shine for 6,404 fans in attendance for today’s game. They wanted to keep the Calder Cup Championship party rolling.
The Cleveland Monsters had other plans in store. Fueled by the will to win, the Monsters came out firing on all cylinders ready to ruin the Marlies’ banner raising.
Three minutes and 22 seconds into the game, the Monsters struck their first blow. Eric Robinson had a beautiful drop pass to Nathan Gerbe. When Gerbe went to shoot, the puck awkwardly went off his stick and bounced off a Marlies defender. The puck then bounced off of Ryan MacInnis into the net.
Not even two minutes later, the Monsters struck again. Justin Scott scooped up a puck which bounced off of Sam Gagner. He skated a bit before firing the puck into the net for the 2-0 lead.
With 4:11 left in the first period, the Marlies cut the Monsters lead in half. Dmytro Timashov sauced the puck to Chris Mueller who fired the puck into the right side of the net. Jean-Francois Berube was expecting him to shoot on the left side of the net.
The Monsters took the 3-1 lead with 2:35 left in the first period. Michael Prapavessis raced down the side of the ice and fired from a little above the goal line into the net.
Zac Dalpe had a monopoly on goals for the first 4:30 minutes of the second period scoring two goal around two minutes apart.
He one timed the first goal from between the top of both faceoff circles. The second goal came after Dalpe did a nice little stickhandling move through traffic and fired the biscuit in the basket.
The 5-1 lead was short lived as the Sam Gagner banged one in off of the corner of the crossbar 4:46 into the second period.
The Marlies would score their final goal of the game with almost two minutes left to play in the second period. Calle Rosen received a pass from Jordan Subban and fired it into the net.
After a scoreless third period, the Monsters came out on top victorious. They not only ruined the Marlies banner raising but skated a way with three wins in a row for the first time since April of 2017.
But Wait! There’s More
Quick Thoughts
– Last season was a rough one for Justin Scott. It appears he worked hard over the summer and turned things around. There has been a lot of positive play from him on the ice thus far this season.
– Zac Dalpe came to play this season. He’s always been a motivated player but this season Dalpe seems to have an extra level of drive.
– The penalty kill is a little scary (not in the good way) right now. They had a hard time keeping the Marlies from getting past the neutral zone. Hopefully they can work out the kinks before they get too deep in the season.
– One of Tommy Cross’ strong points is the poke check. He kept the Marlies from scoring multiple times because of this particular skill.
– Michael Prapavessis is fast. If he keeps this up, by the end of the season, he’ll be faster than Nathan Gerbe.
– The Monsters came out strong in the both the first and second period. However, the third period was not a good period. For the bulk of the third, play took place in the Monsters defensive zone. Being in front of Berube for an extended period of time allowed the Marlies to have 20 shots on goal to the Monsters’ two. Playing 40 minutes of hockey in a 60-minute game cannot become a habit again. The Monsters got the Marlies number today, but they might not be so lucky the next time.
3 Stars
1st – Zac Dalpe (2g, 0a)
2nd – Jean-Francois Berube (40 shots faced, 37 saves, TOI 60 :00)
3rd – Sam Gagner (1g, 1a)
Game Stats
Milestones
Michael Praparvessis scored his first professional goal in the first period of this afternoon’s game.
Today’s win marks three wins in a row for the Monsters. The last time they strung together three wins was in April of 2017.
What’s Next
The Monsters return home Thursday to play the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins at 7pm.