Cleveland Monsters (0) at Toronto Marlies (2)
The Cleveland Monsters took on the Toronto Marlies for the second night of their back-to-back-to-back roadtrip. It appears the short turnaround messed with the Monsters a bit tonight. They played quite the messy game which ended with the Marlies winning, 2-0.
Things started out decent for the Monsters as Veini Vehvilainen robbed Timothy Liljegren of deadly shot. Then things went slightly awry when Doyle Somerby was collared for elbowing almost four minutes into the game. Luckily, the penalty kill is one of the brighter spots for the Monsters.
During the Monsters’ first penalty kill of the evening, Nathan Gerbe would constantly swing at the puck when it was in possession of a member of the Marlies. This caused a few members of the Marlies to either go offsides or slow down to prevent from going offsides. It was a nice play to envoke as it forced the Marlies to slow down and allowed the Monsters to reposition.
Kole Sherwood provided another interesting play during the first period. He would sit at the top of the crease and wait for the puck like any normal prolific scorer. Here’s where it gets great. Every time the Marlies tried to remove him from the area, Sherwood would push them onto the ground.
With 4:56 left in the first period, Andrew Peeke learned a very important lesson about communication and shooting the puck. He had a partial breakaway and an open lane laid ahead. Instead shooting at the net Peeke opted to pass the puck to Ryan MacInnis who was prepared to scoop up a rebound not receive a pass. The fumbled pass allowed the Marlies to regain momentum.
The Marlies played a lackluster first period as well. If it wasn’t for Kasimir Kaskisuo, the Monsters would have scored a few times. Since he was in net, the first period ended without a goal from either team.
Almost a minute into the second period, Garrett Wilson thought sneaking past Adam Clendening would be a viable option to create a breakaway goal. Clendening had other thoughts and quickly forced Wilson off of his path and behind the net. Wilson was not too happy out this foiled goal attempt.
The Marlies got their revenge on Clendening 3:04 into the second. Darren Archibald managed to skate around Clendening. Then glided across the crease before popping the puck into the net for the first goal of the game.
The Monsters headed to the power play 7:31 into the second period but couldn’t make anything happen. Both units tried their hardest but Kaskisuo pulled out quick stops every time someone fired the puck at him.
Kaskisuo spent the rest of the second period facing point blank shots and blue line slappers from the Monsters. Not a single one went into the net. Last night, the Monsters had trouble with accuracy. Tonight, most of their shots were on the mark but Kaskisuo was ready to stop whatever was thrown his way.
The Monsters started the third period down a goal and a man. They took their penalty kill like champs and attacked the net multiple times. Kaskisuo refused to let anything into the net.
Unfortunately, as time was winding down on their penalty, Dillon Simpson was called for slashing. Mere moments later, Liljegren was called for interference. Neither team was able to score on their man-advantages either.
With 12:25 left in the game, Liljegren one timed a shot from below the blue line that traveled down the slot. Egor Korshkov was able to grab a piece of the puck before it flew into the net for the 2-0 lead over the Monsters.
The rest of the third period was a mess. Players were bumping into each other, sticks were flying around, and shots were flying wide of the net. Plus, Kaskisuo showed no signs of breaking down.
In the end, the Monsters couldn’t make any magic happen and fell to the Marlies, 2-0.
Maybe a different Monsters’ team will hit the ice after a good night’s rest.
3 Stars
1st – Kasimi Kaskisuo (Toronto Marlies) – 30 saves, 30 shots faced, 58:52 TOI
2nd – Timothy Liljegren (Toronto Marlies) – 0g, 2a
3rd – Pontus Aberg (Toronto Marlies) – 0g, 0a
Monsters Lines
Gerbe – Stenlund – Matteau
Robinson – Dalpe – Dano
Vigneault – Scott – Sherwood
Bittner – MacInnis – Barach
Monsters Pairs
Carlsson – Clendening
Simpson – Peeke
Somerby – Collins
What’s Next
The Monsters and Marlies meet again tomorrow at 4pm est.