Recap: Camper, Kempe Lead Roadrunners to 5-1 defeat of the Monsters

Tucson Roadrunners (5) at Cleveland Monsters (1)

Attendance: 11,392

Starters

Monsters

Gerbe-Scott-Schroeder

Gaunce-Collins

Zatkoff

Roadrunners

Pederson-Camper-Kempe

Murphy-Hanley

Hill

Monsters Lines

A.Broadhurst-Dalpe-T.Broadhurst

Gerbe-Scott-Schroeder

Pendenza-Vigneault-Koules

Gallant-Kirkpatrick-Thurkauf

Monsters Pairings

Austin-Cockerill

Gaunce-Collins

Savage-Graves

Goal Recap

Tonight didn’t work out so well for the Cleveland Monsters as the Tucson Roadrunners trounced them, 5-1. Carter Camper came up big with five assists.

Trevory Murphy kicked things off things for the Roadrunners 6:06 into the first period.

Camper tossed the puck to Murphy who was barreling down the ice. He gingerly pushed the puck from near the faceoff circle and it slowly moved between Jeff Zatkoff’s five-hole.

The Monsters tied the game at one with 6:10 left in the first period. Jacob Graves fired the puck from below the blue line through traffic. Jordan Schroeder picked up the rebound and popped the puck into the net.

Seven minutes into the second period a series of unfortunate events led to Ryan Collins accidentally scoring on his own goalie. The goal was credited to Mario Kempe and put the Roadrunners up 2-1.

Not even a minute later, the Roadrunners extended their lead to 3-1. Dakota Mermis fired a shot from below the blue line that Kempe directed into the net.

With 9:37 left in the second, the  Roadrunners extended their lead to 4-1. Kempe passed the puck to Michael Bunting who raced off down the ice. He fired from just inside the right faceoff circle.

After Bunting’s goal, Matiss Kivlenieks replaced Zatkoff in net for the Monsters.

With 6:19 left in the second, the Roadrunners extended their lead over the Monsters to 5-1.

A sequence of beautiful passes by Camper and Sislo allowed Kempe to fire the puck into the net from the faceoff circle.

But Wait! There’s More

Quick Thoughts

• There were a lot of turnovers by the Monsters tonight. It would be different if it was just one person making the mistakes but it was a handful of them.
• The first line was very quiet. It was odd for the Broadhurst brothers and Dalpe to not make a lot of noise.
• The Monsters are definitely struggling without the leadership  and play making skills of Camper. As well as their hype man, Nick Moutrey.
• “I think Mouts was a bigger loss because he’s so good in the lockerrom, he’s so good with the guys. He keeps guys loose. He’s a big strong guy that throws hits and as you saw tonight we didn’t throw many hits.” - Coach John Madden
• After having a great penalty kill and power play for a month, the special teams were not good at all tonight.
• “I didn’t think our pk was very good. A couple of goals were second chances. I think we put one of them in our own net. Power play was dull. Didn’t really generate much or give us momentum.” - Coach John Madden/

3 Stars

1st – Mario Kempe ( 3g, 1a)

2^nd –  Carter Camper (0g, 5a)

3^rd –  Dakota Mermis (0g, 2a)

Game Stats

Captaincy Report

Alex Broadhurst, Brett Gallant, and Nathan Gerbe wore the “A” on their sweater tonight.

What’s Next

There is a 3 pm start for the Monsters on March 4^th. The first 2,500 kids will receive a Zamboni bank. A postgame skate will take place afterwards and the Mullet Brothers will be signing autographs.