Belleville Senators (3) at Cleveland Monsters (6)
The Cleveland Monsters started off strong against the Belleville Senators tonight. They played with a lot more energy than Wednesday and it was quite noticeable.
A little over two minutes into the game, Jean-Francois Berube highsticked a Senator in the face causing the Monsters to go on their first penalty kill of the game. Vitaly Abramov headed to the box to sit for Berube. The pk started off shaky as the first 40 seconds were spent in their defensive zone. Although, there was a nice scoring chance by Nathan Gerbe. Filip Gustavsson shut his eyes,stuck his glove in the air,and hoped for the best. It worked out for him as Gerbe was denied a goal.
As time wound down on the penalty,Abramov rushed out of the box and grabbed the puck. No one could stop him as he sped towards the net. Abramov slowed down just enough to allow him to put some juice behind his shot. The puck flew through Gustavsson’s five-hole into the net to give the Monsters the 1-0 lead over the Senators.
Five minutes later, the Monsters extended their lead to 2-0. Adam Clendening faked a shot and in turn passed it to Alex Broadhurst who was waiting in front of the net. Broadhurst tapped the puck into the net for the goal.
At this point the Senators started to shoot the puck just for the sake of shooting the puck. It was clear they wanted to get on the board in the first period. Luckily for the Monsters, the Senators were shooting high and wide.
With 9:21 left in the first period, Doyle Somerby pushed Tobias Lindberg in the head right in front of the ref. The Monsters headed to their second penalty kill of the night.
Another penalty kill, another 40 seconds spent in front of Berube. A lot of good things happened during the rest of this penalty kill.
Broadhurst forced a turnover. He raced off down the ice with the puck and attempted to pass it off to Justin Scott who had an open lane. However, the Senators were on to their tricks and stole the puck back. Shortly after, Eric Robinson foiled Stuart Percy’s shot attempt allowing Clendening to scoop the puck up. He raced off down the ice and fired it from the blueline towards Gustavsson. The puck was stopped but it gave Somerby a chance to bust out of the box and head to the bench for a line change.
With 5:47 left in the first period, Mark Letestu made a smart play along the boards to get Broadhurst the puck. Broadhurst then fired an awkward shot from the near faceoff circle into the net to give the Monsters the 3-0 lead.
After the Monsters’ third goal of the night, Marcus Hogberg replaced Gustavsson in net for the Senators.
A new goalie ignited a fire in the Senators. A little over a minute later, Rudolph Balcers picked up Logan Brown’s fumbled puck and fired it into the back of the net to give the Senators their first goal of the night.
Both teams turned up the heat at this point. However, no goals were scored by the end of the first.
The Monsters started the second period out strong scoring a goal in the first six minutes. Tommy Cross launched a shot from near the blueline which Eric Robinson was able to tip into the net.
Five minutes later, Balcers received a pass from Paul Carey before tapping the puck into the net for the Senators’ second goal of the night.
The second period ended with the Monsters leading the Senators, 4-2.
Four minutes and 20 seconds into the third period, the Monsters extended their lead over the Senators to 5-2. Robinson fired off a shot from the near faceoff circle. Justin Scott deflected the puck into the net while falling through traffic.
Tempers began to boil over after Scott’s goal. In a span of two minutes and 17 seconds two different fights broke out.
First, Somerby and Joseph LaBate dropped the gloves. The went wild as Somerby landed a few nice upper cuts. Labate hit Somerby in the face and they both quickly fell to the ground.
The next fight was not so much a fight as a mauling. Once Max McCormick landed his first punch to Ryan MacInnis’ face, it was game over. Poor MacInnis was not ready for the anger McCormick unleashed upon his face.
A minute and a half after the fights died down, Broadhurst scored his third goal of the night. Kevin Stenlund fired a shot which bounced off of Dillon Simpson. Broadhurst picked the puck up and slammed it home to give the Monsters the 6-2 lead over the Senators.
Not long after Broadhurst’s goal, Adam Clendening was jumped by Andreas Englund and dragged across the ice. Englund kept punching Clendening until Scott stepped in to protect his stunned teammate.
With 8:19 left in the game, Tobias Lindberg launched a shot into the net to give the Senators their third goal of the night. It wasn’t enough to give the Senators the momentum they wanted and desperately needed. Tonight’s victory was for the Monsters.
3 Stars
1st – Alex Broadhurst (3g, 1a)
2nd – Eric Robinson (1g, 1a)
3rd – Mark Letestu (0g, 2a)
Post-Game Presser Videos
Quotables
“I think two were just great plays by my teammates. I was in the right spot at the right time. I was able to put it in the net. The one Letestu made a nice pass to me in the slot and I had a good shot on net. So, it’s nice when you can score three goals in one game.” – Alex Broadhurst on tonight’s hattrick
“It’s been a struggle. The hardest thing is just keeping positive and keeping your mind right. Not getting points is tough on the mind sometimes.” – Alex Broadhurst on his slow start to the season
Game Stats
Monsters Lines
Robinson-Dalpe-Sherwood
Abramov-MacInnis-Gerbe
Broadhurst-Scott-Letestu
Vigneault-Stenlund-Thurkauf
Monsters Pairings
Somerby-Clendening
Cross-Collins
Carlsson-Simpson
What’s Next
The Monsters and Senators meet back at the Q on Saturday at 7pm. This game is the annual Teddy Bear Toss! Bring as many new stuffed animals as you can fit in your car to throw on the ice after the Monsters score their first goal of the night. Let’s beat the Hershey Bears record!