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Recap: Monsters Start Strong in Loss to Wolves

Cleveland Monsters (1) at Chicago Wolves (3)

Attendance:  6,927

Starters

Monsters

A.Broadhurst-Dalpe-Kurker

Ramage-Gaunce

Kivlenieks

Wolves

Pulkkinen-Thompson-Lindberg

Bischoff-Casto

Kaskisuo

Monsters Lines

A.Broadhurst-Dalpe-Kurker

T.Broadhurst-Camper-Koules

Bittner-Vigneault-Hodgson

Thurkauf-Scott-Maletta

Monsters Pairings

Gaunce-Ramage

Somerby-Collins

Carlsson-Cockerill

Goal Recap

The Cleveland Monsters were first on the board 2:33 seconds into the second period. Terry Broadhurst stole the puck from Jake Walman and backhanded it to Justin Scott. From the faceoff circle, Scott lofted the puck into the net.

This would be the only goal scored by the Monsters tonight.

The Chicago Wolves ended up scoring three unanswered goals in the third period to earn the win.

Jake Bischoff launched the puck from below the blue line and through Matiss Kivlenieks’ five-hole to tie things up for the Wolves 8:25 into the third.

The Wolves took the 2-1 lead with 4:31 left in the game. Brandon Pirri skated around the back of the net and passed the puck to Tomas Hyka who one-timed it into the net.

With one minute left in the game, Wade Megan gave the Wolves the 3-1 lead over the Monsters. A bad pass by the Monsters led to this goal.

But Wait! There’s More

Quick Thoughts Deep Thoughts

Coach Madden ran with a few new lines tonight. He even went so far as to split up the Broadhurst brothers which left many puzzled with his decision. However, each line was actively present.

The line changes proved that the Monsters are much more than the Broadhurst brothers and Zac Dalpe.

Sam Kurker provides the speed and grit which Dalpe and Alex Broadhurst need to succeed.

Miles Koules and Terry Broadhurst have the patience to allow Carter Camper the time to think through play scenarios in his head. Both Koules and T.Broadhurst are great at distracting the opposition and opening up lanes for Camper.

Paul Bittner, Sam Vigneault, and Hayden Hodgson are hard hitters with heavy handed shots who will aggressively attack the net.

Calvin Thurkauf, Jordan Maletta, and Justin Scott have a mix of qualities from the other three lines.

We are now starting to see what each forward brings to the table.

Another point of note is how the players reacted to not having their goalie in net for an extended period of time.

While most coaches will stick to pulling their goalies with 90 seconds to play, a select few will pull them as early as four minutes left in the period. Tonight, Coach Madden chose to pull Kivlenieks with 3:43 left in the game while they were down by one. Some may not see this as a good coaching decision. However, at some point Madden has to know the players are going to step up when their goalie is not around to bail them out. For two minutes and 43 seconds, the players proved this was possible by maintaining control of the puck and attacking the Wolves’ net. One bad play and a soft pass led to the Wolves empty net goal. The Monsters are positively progressing. It’s the small breakdowns which the other teams are capitalizing on.

Simply put, the Monsters need to start playing a full 60 minutes of hockey. It’s the only way they will survive this season and begin to climb the standings.

3 Stars

1st –  Tomas Hyka (1g,1a)

2nd –  Jake Bischoff (1g,1a)

3rd – Kasimir Kaskisuo (26 shots faced, 25 saves, 60:00 TOI)

Game Stats

Captaincy Report

Alex Broadhurst, Carter Camper, and Zac Dalpe wore the “A” on their sweaters tonight.

What’s Next

The Monsters head to Milwaukee to play the Admirals on Tuesday, January 23rd, at 8pm.

They start a seven-game homestand on Thursday, January 25th.