Recap: Cleveland Monsters Stay Alive With Win Over Milwaukee Admirals

Cleveland Monsters (1) at Milwaukee Admirals (0)

Attendance:  5,038

Starters

Monsters

Admirals

Goal Recap

The first and only game of the night didn’t come until there were four minutes and 15 seconds left in the second period.

There was a massive scramble in front of Marek Mazanec. Ryan Craig was able to find T.J. Tynan who nudged the puck to the left side of the net. Zac Dalpe was posted in front of the net and tapped the puck past Mazanec.

This goal extended Dalpe’s goal streak to six games.

But Wait! There’s More

Quick Thoughts

• The third defensive pairing of Ryan Collins and Oleg Yevenko is massive. They are both upwards of  6’5” and more than 220 pounds.
• Markus Hannikainen, Joe Pendenza,  and Sonny Milano were passing machines tonight. They went tape-to-tape all night long. It truly was a shame their passing couldn’t produce goals. This wasn’t a shot attempt problem though.  Marek Mazanec was just on fire for most of the night.
• The first period was a little dicey with shots on goal for the Monsters. They were able to fire the first one off in the first few minutes of the period. The second shot didn’t come until there was 4:35 left in the first. The  Monsters turned up the heat in the final few minutes and ended with seven shots on goal. When the second period rolled around the  Monsters were shot firing machines. They posted 16 shots on goal in the second period. Coach Madden must have reminded them how important it is to put pucks on the net.
• Anton Forsberg was on fire tonight. I always talk about the magic Sonny Milano and Zac Dalpe bring to each game but Forsberg was the magic man tonight. On the  Monsters second penalty kill of the night he stopped eight amazing chances by the Admirals. Honestly, I don’t know how a few of those shots didn’t go in. Forsberg was all over the place tonight and didn’t let a single attack psych him out. He’s in playoff form at the right time.
• The penalty kill was a little off tonight. The Admirals spent a lot of time in the Monsters’ zone during the pk. Hopefully, the Monsters thanked Forsberg after the game because he bailed them out on the pk tonight.   /

3 Stars

1^st  –  Anton Forsberg (27 saves, 27 shots faced, SHUTOUT)

2^nd – Marek Mazanec (28 saves, 29 shots faced, TOI: 58:45)

3^rd – Zac Dalpe (1g, 0a)

Playoff Race

Tonight’s win helped the Monsters stay in the hunt for the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs. The Checkers still sit in the fourth spot in the Central Division due to the fact they have played one less game than the Monsters. This weekend they play back-to-backs against the Texas Stars. It would be great if the Stars swept the Checkers.

It would also be great if the Monsters swept the Griffins.

It’s going to be a tough battle to the end.

What’s Next

After tonight’s game, the Monsters head to Grand Rapids to take on the Griffins at 7pm est on Saturday.

They finally return home at 5pm est on Sunday to take on the Griffins.