Preview: Monsters, Admirals Battle One Last Time in Regular Season
Cleveland Monsters at Milwaukee Admirals
Friday, April 7th at 8pm est
UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Radio: 99x(99.1); 99x Online
Twitter: @mkeadmirals
@MonstersHockey , #CLEMonsters
Cleveland Monsters; 35-28-4-4, 78 points, .549 win%, 5th Central, 9th West
vs
Milwaukee Admirals; 41-23-3-3, 88 points, .629 win%, 3rd Central, 5th West
Tonight marks the last time during the regular season the Milwaukee Admirals and Cleveland Monsters play against one another. The Monsters hold the lead in the series, 4-3, The Admirals have yet to win a game in their home barn against the Monsters this season.
Earlier this week, the Admirals clinched the third playoff spot up for grabs in the Central division. At first glance, you may think they won't put up as big of a fight. However, they are two percentage points behind the second place Wolves in the standings. This means the Admirals are fighting for home ice advantage.
This game will be a chippy game. Normally, I would say to keep an eye out for Michael Liambis who works hard to get under the skin of his opponents. However, Liambis has nine fights this season. Due to the new rule put forth this season, once a player hits 10 fights they are suspended for one game. I would hope Liambis takes the looming possibility of suspension seriously and keeps the gloves on for the rest of the season. Especially since it would benefit the Monsters to have Liambis play his antagonistic role when the Admirals play the Wild on April 9th.
Sonny Milano may play in tonight's game. He may not play in tonight's game. Jackets Head Coach, John Tortorella, has already said he plans on having Milano back with the Jackets this weekend. Will Milano get recalled today? Or Saturday? I'm not sure. So, unfortunately, that's one less magic maker the Monsters have on the ice.
However, Zac Dalpe is on a five-game goal streak. He is coming into the game hot and I don't think he's ready to cool off just yet.
The Monsters also have a barrage of new players who are ready to prove themselves. Oscar Dansk (goaltender) and Ryan Collins (defender) are two of the newest kids on the squad. I'm not sure if Madden will have them make their debut tonight or not. There are also rumblings of forward Vitaly Abramov making his AHL debut with the Monsters tonight. If Abramov makes his debut, I hope he is able to bring some of the magic he had in the QMJHL this past season.
The Monsters special teams have continued to grow as the regular season nears it's end. They are 18th in the league on the power play and 2nd in the league on the penalty kill. As of late, the power play has been a thing of beauty. When the power play unit does well, the team does well. They need to continue to play crisp and clean on the power play. One false move and the Admirals will destroy them.
Finally, the Monsters need to score first and maintain the lead for the game. They need to dominate all three periods. The Admirals have a near perfect record when leading after one (22-1-1-1) and after two (22-0-2-1).
| Admirals | Monsters | |
| 22-1-1-1 | Leading After 1 | 11-2-1-2 |
| 22-0-2-1 | Leading After 2 | 19-2-0-2 |
| 13-8-1-2 | Tied After 1 | 16-10-3-1 |
| 14-4-0-2 | Tied After 2 | 12-5-3-0 |
| 6-14-1-0 | Trailing After 1 | 8-16-0-1 |
| 5-19-1-0 | Trailing After 2 | 04/21/01 |
| 16-11-2-0 | Outshooting Opponent | 16-10-2-2 |
| 22-11-1-2 | Outshot by Opponent | 19-18-2-1 |
Season Series
11/17/2016 – Milwaukee (1) @ Cleveland (0) = L – recap
11/19/2016 – Milwaukee (2) @ Cleveland (1) = L – recap
12/02/2016 – Milwaukee (1) @ Cleveland (4) = W – recap
12/03/2016 – Milwaukee (4) @ Cleveland (1) = L – recap
01/24/2017 – Cleveland (5) @ Milwaukee (2) = W – recap
02/07/2017 – Cleveland (4) @ Milwaukee (1) = W – recap
03/08/2017 – Cleveland (5) @ Milwaukee (3) = W – recap
04/07/2017
Stats Matchup
| Admirals | Monsters | |
| 3.03 (11) | GPG | 2.55 (24) |
| 2.84 (18) | GAPG | 2.68 (8) |
| 21.5% (5) | PP% | 16.5% (18) |
| 83.2% (8) | PK% | 85.7% (2) |
| Pontus Aberg, 31 | G Leader | Markus Hannikainen, 17 |
| Alexandre Carrier, 32 | A Leader | Tynan, Milano, 27 |
| Pontus Aberg, 52 | P Leader | Sonny Milano, 43 |
| Mike Liambas, 145 | PIM Leader | Brett Gallant, 111 |
| 19-12-3-0 | Road/Home | 15-17-2-2 |
| 7-3-0-0 | Last 10 | 8-1-1-0 |
| 1-0-0-0 | Streaks | 2-0-1-0 |