The Monsters won two of their three games last week.
They started the week on Wednesday with a much-needed win over the number two team in the division, Milwaukee Admirals. Brett Gallant led the team to victory with a Gordie Howe hat trick. John Ramage also made a strong showing after scoring a goal and an assist in Wednesday’s 5-3 win over the Admirals.
The next day the Monsters snapped the Wolves win-streak with an overtime win. Markus Hannikainen assisted two of the Monsters three goals. Akim Aliu’s third-period goal put him on a three-game goal streak.
The Monsters two-game win streak came to an end on Sunday against the San Antonio Rampage. Marc-Andre Bergeron scored the Monsters’ first goal of the afternoon with six and a half minutes left in the second period.
Transactions
T.J. Tynan was recalled from the Monsters on March 7th. He would play in his first NHL game that night against the New Jersey Devils. The Blue Jackets would win 2-0.
Michael Houser was reassigned to the Cincinnati Cyclones. He played 20 minutes for the Monsters allowing one goal on four shots before being sent down.
Rankings
Record: 27-25-3-4,61 points, 5th Central, 10th West
As of right now, the Monsters are sitting firmly in the 5th spot in the division. While they are not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, every game has become do or die. Their next three games are against non-division opponents, Texas Stars and San Antonio Rampage. Grabbing six of six possible points against them will prove beneficial to the Monsters down the stretch.
Team Leaders
*note: Since Oliver Bjorkstrand can no longer be sent down to the Jackets his stats are not included in this post. While with the Monsters, he had 14 goals, 12 assists, and 26 points.
Point Scorers
- T.J. Tynan, 30
- Sonny Milano, 29
- Daniel Zaar, 27
Goal Scorers
- Markus Hannikainen, Sonny Milano, 13
- Jordan Maletta, 10
- Justin Scott, Alex Broadhurst, 9
Assists
- T.J. Tynan, 23
- Daniel Zaar, 19
- Sonny Milano, 18
Penalty Minutes
- Brett Gallant, 98
- Oleg Yevenko, 62
- John Ramage, 53
Weekly Stats
| Shots For | 63 |
| Shots Against | 100 |
| Goals For | 11 |
| Goals Against | 9 |
| Penalties/Minutes | 20/51 minutes |
| Penalty Kill | 9 for 14 |
| Power Play | 1 for 9 |
| Forsberg | |
| Games Played | 3 |
| Record | 2-1-0-0 |
| Shots Faced | 100 |
| Saves | 91 |
| Time On Ice | 181:58:00 |
Around the AHL
Leaders
Point Scorers
- Kenny Agostino, 73
- Taylor Beck, 54
- Chris Terry, 53
Goal Scorers
- Wade Megan, 27
- Greg Carey, Byron Froese, 26
- Nicklas Jensen, 25
Assists
- Kenny Agostino, 52
- Taylor Beck, 39
- Cory Conacher, 38
Penalty Minutes
- Brendan Lemieux, 130
- Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, 128
- Tyler Lewington, 127
Goaltenders
- Troy Grosenick – 2.03 GAA, 24 wins, 72 GA, .930 sav%
- Zane McIntyre – 2.03 GAA, 15 wins, 40 GA, .931 sav%
- David Rittich – 2.09 GAA, 11 wins, 44 GA, .929 sav%
Suspensions
Jarred Tinordi of the Tucson Roadrunners was suspended for one game after an illegal check to the head on March 10th.
Transactions
Wednesday, March 8th was the AHL’s trade and loan deadline. While not as crazy as the NHL trade deadline, a few moves were made during the deadline.
The New Jersey Devils traded Brandon Gormley to the Ottawa Senators for future considerations.
Mark Olver of the Tucson Roadrunners was loaned to the Bakersfield Condors.
Captain of the Rochester Americans, Cal O’Reilly, was reassigned to the Toronto Marlies for the remainder of the season.
The Charlotte Checkers made a few moves this past week. Alex Nedeljkovic was assigned to the Florida Everblades (ECHL) after the Stockton Heat loaned goaltender, Tom McCollum, to the Checkers. Mitchell Heard was also sent to the Everblades. Clark Bishop was recalled to replace him.
The Utica Comets received Emerson Clark from the Chicago Wolves for future considerations.
The Hershey Bears and Texas Stars loaned defensemen to each other.
Player Awards
Kyle Connor of the Manitoba Moose was named the CCM/AHL Player of the Week. He scored eight points in the form of six goals and two assists over four games.
Story Lines
The Tucson Roadrunners will honor captain Craig Cunningham on March 25th. Cunningham will drop the puck. For those who may not know, Craig Cunningham went into cardiac arrest during a game on November 19th. Taylor Clark expands on what Cunningham went through and how he has begun to deal with what happened here.
Rochester Americans’ John Muse and his family operate Paul’s Pizza and Seafood out of Falmouth, Massachusetts. Muse helps his family run the tech side of the restaurant and plans to launch an Instagram account during the offseason. You can read Ryan J. Harr’s article about it here.
Jason Karnosky writes about the future of Alexandre Carrier of the Milwaukee Admirals.
Chris Rumble talks about his battle with cancer.
Akron/Cleveland Hockey
St. Ignatius won their second state championship in a row after beating St. Francis de Sales 5-1 on Sunday.
Around the SB Nation Cleveland Sports Horn
The University of Akron was upset by their forever foe, Kent State, in the championship game of the MAC tournament on Saturday. This is the second year in a row the Zips entered the tournament as projected winners and left without a trophy.
It’s March which can only mean one thing for baseball fans, spring training. The Indians are gearing up for another successful run in the playoffs. Merritt Rohlfing of “Lets Go Tribe” fills us in on the Indians’ secret to success here.
The Cleveland Cavaliers broke their three-game lose streak on Saturday. Chris Manning of “Fear the Sword” covers that win and more in their daily newsletter “Fear the Newsletter”.
After averaging 30 points in three games, Kay Felder of the Canton Charge was named D-League Performer of the Week.
The Cleveland Browns lost one of the best players on the team when Terrelle Pryor signed with the Washington Redskins.
Our own Fletcher Keel has your weekly Blue Jackets news here.