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Recap: Monsters fall to IceHogs in Overtime

Cleveland Monsters (2) at Rockford IceHogs (3)

Another night. Another important game for the Monsters.

A little over five minutes into the first period, the Rockford IceHogs scored their first goal of the game on their first shot of the game.

Victor Ejdsell picked up the puck after getting off the box and fired the puck past Brad Thiessen.

The Monsters tied the game up at one with 2:26 left in the first period. Dillon Simpson snuck around the back of the net and pushed the puck past the goal line. Brett Gallant had Lucas Carlsson distracted as he was pushing him around.

A minute and a half into the second period, Blake Hillman gave the IceHogs the 2-1 lead over the Monsters. He picked the puck off the wall before firing it into the net.

A little over nine minutes into the second, Brett Gallant busts out of the box and picks up the puck. He passed the puck to Zac Dalpe who fired it into the back of the net for the equalizer, 2-2.

The Monsters and IceHogs kicked things into high gear in the third period. Both Thiessen and Colin Delia pulled out all the stops during the final minutes of the third period. This stellar play by the goaltenders pushed the game into overtime.

Putting Dan DeSalvo, Doyle Somerby, and Alexandre Texier on the ice at the same time during overtime was a little mind boggling to me. Earlier in the game, Coach Madden separated Texier and DeSalvo as they were not meshing well together. Texier is just on another playing level than DeSalvo. He’s faster, quicker, stronger, and smarter.

So, it was no shock to me when that unit gave up the game winning goal 1:15 into overtime.

Luckily, for the Monsters, the overtime loss still gave them a point in the standings. With the Utica Comets losing in regulation and the Belleville Senators winning in a shootout, the Monsters are now four points shy of a playoff spot.

3 Stars

1st –  Peter Holland (1g, 0a)

2nd – Victor Ejdsell (1g, 0a)

3rd – Zac Dalpe (1g, 0a)

Game Stats

Monsters Lines

Barach-Dalpe-Sherwood
Texier-Scott-DeSalvo
Stenlund-MacInnis-Korostelev
Gallant-Vigneault-Wolfe

Monsters Pairings

Somerby-Collins
Cross-Cockerill
Carlsson-Simpson

What’s Next

The Monsters play at the Rochester Americans on Friday, March 22nd at 7pm.

They return home March 23rd and 24th to take on the Hershey Bears.