Cleveland Monsters (3) at Rockford IceHogs (1)
Attendance: 2,364
Starters
Monsters
T.Broadhurst-Scott-A.Broadhurst
Carlsson-Gaunce
Kivlenieks
IceHogs
Pelletier-Kero-Louis
Forsling-Raddysh
Berube
Monsters Lines
A.Broadhurst-Scott-T.Broadhurst
Gerbe-Camper-Schroeder
Pendenza-Vigneault-Koules
Maletta-Kirkpatrick-Thurkauf
Monsters Pairings
Austin-Cockerill
Gaunce-Carlsson
Somerby-Collins
Goal Recap
The Cleveland Monsters were the first on the board 4:45 into the second period. Terry Broadhurst broke away from the pack, turned on the burners, and fired off a shot from below the right faceoff circle.
For the second game in a row, T.Broadhurst scored a shorthanded goal.
With 3:18 left in the first period, the Rockford IceHogs tied the game at one. Matthew Highmore snuck around the back of the net as Henrik Samuelsson was backhanding the puck. Highmore picked up the puck, skated forward, and passed the puck back to Samuelsson who was waiting at the bottom of the left faceoff circle. Samuelsson fired the puck through Matiss Kivlenieks’ five-hole.
The Monsters took the 2-1 lead with 2:15 left in the second period.
Jordan Schroeder had a beautiful pass through two IceHogs to Carter Camper who fired the puck home for the goal.
An accidental empty net goal by the IceHogs into the IceHogs’ net gave the Monsters the 3-1 lead with 42 seconds left in the game. The goal was credited to Alex Broadhurst.
But Wait! There’s More
Quick Thoughts
- Joe Pendenza is finally starting to look like his old self.
- Miles Koules is fantastic at positioning. The past two games he has known where to go to fill any gaps on the ice.
- As a whole, the Monsters defense did a great job of breaking up plays and forcing turnovers. The only thing they need to work on is not letting people on a breakaway get too close to the crease. Matiss Kivlenieks’ had a lot of opponents in his crease throughout the night. The Monsters are already shorthanded in the goalie area. It would behoove them to keep the rest of their goalies safe.
- Speaking of Kivlenieks, he came to play tonight. Every save he made looked effortless and smooth. The time he spent with Manny Legace and Jeff Zatkoff has truly made a difference in Kivlenieks’ game.
- Yet again, the special teams were solid. They rolled with two power play units which kept the guys energized. There were a lot of passes on the first power play but the passes meant something. It wasn’t just the pass, pass, pass mentality. It was a ‘’we need to find an opening stat” mentality.
- Nathan Gerbe brings a lot of energy and skill to the Monsters. He is starting to meld with the team and work with his linemates as a cohesive unit. /
3 Stars
1st – Matiss Kivlenieks (30 shots faced, 29 saves, 60:00 TOI)
2nd – Nathan Gerbe (0g, 2a)
3rd – Jean-Francois Berube (29 shots faced, 27 saves, 58:06 TOI)
Game Stats
Captaincy Report
The usual suspects, Alex Broadhurst and Carter Camper, wore the “A” tonight. With Zac Dalpe on leave, the other “A” went to Nathan Gerbe.
What’s Next
The Cleveland Monsters head to Rosemont on Thursday, February 15th to take on the Chicago Wolves. Puck drops at 8pm est.