The first two goals of the game came within the first five minutes of the first stanza.
The first came after Poturalski tipped Carrick’s shot into the net.
The second after a feed from Bjorkstrand led to Scott crashing the blue paint.
With a little over 12 to play in the first, Forsberg made an incredible point blank save which was overshadowed by a slashing penalty. The Monsters would head to their first penalty play of the night. Luckily, the Checkers are last in the league on the powerplay. The Checkers had multiple opportunities to score but couldn’t convert shots into goals because they were extremely unorganized.
With under three minutes to play in the first, Di Giuseppe crept in on Forsberg who saw him coming and denied the goal. Had Di Giuseppe passed to Wallmark the outcome might have been a bit different. During this play, Siebnaler made a great defensive decision to allow Forsberg to handle the situation instead of getting in his way.
The first two minutes of the second period went by without a score or penalty. Or really anything.
For the next five and a half minutes, the Monsters would have many shining moments and almost goals.
With a little over eight to play in the second, Brown (Patrick) gave the Checkers the lead after scoring a rebound shot over the left toe of Forsberg. Three minutes later, Nedljkovic would be called for delay of game. The Monsters would spend most of their time in the defensive zone during their powerplay. In fact, there was a time when three Monsters were battling McKeown for the puck on the boards next to Forsberg.
Not even two minutes into the third period the Monsters headed to their second penalty kill of the night after Bittner tripped up one of the Checkers. During the penalty kill, Pendenza and Milano had a few stellar shots on goal which Nedeljkovic managed to stop.
At the 9:36 mark of the third, Maletta tied things up for the Monsters. Shortly after Maletta’s goal, Bittner created multiple scoring chances.
With 5:15 left in the third, Fleury blasted one from the blue line that Forsberg grabbed without flinching.
The game would remain tied for the rest of the third.
During Overtime, Lowe lost control while driving towards the net causing him to kick the pads out from under Forsberg. They, and the puck, flew into the net. After a short review, “no goal” was called on the play.
With a little over a minute to play, Tynan would get called for hooking after going one-on-one with Di Giuseppe. The Monsters would spend the rest of overtime down a man.
Thanks to an instinctive blind left toe save, Forsberg was able to push the game to a shootout.
Here’s how the shootout went down.
Milano – He carefully slows his pace the closer he gets to the net. Then backhands the shot just wide. – No Goal
Poturalski – Swinging to the right Poturalksi slows his pace and begins to do fancy stick work before shooting. Forsberg swipes the puck out of the air. – No Goal
Broadhurst – Slowly crept up the center towards Nedeljkovic before mishandling the puck at the top of the circle. The puck would roll off of the heel. – No Goal
Di Giuseppe – Starts wide to the left. Then moves wide to the right before firing a wrister from the hashmarks into Forsberg – No Goal
Bjorkstrand – Slowly skated up the ice before firing a forehand shot towards Nedeljkovic’s five hole. Nedeljkovic was quick to stop Bjorkstrand’s shot. – No Goal
Wallmark – Goes wide to the right before the puck was saved by Forsberg. – No Goal
Maletta – Backhanded a shot which lifted over the top of the net – No Goal
Zykov – Went left to right slowing his pace as Forsberg came into view. Waited a moment at the right circle before scoring on a forehand shot. – Goal
The Monsters and the Checkers meet each other again on Saturday, January 14 at 6pm est in Charlotte.