Chicago Wolves (2) @ Cleveland Monsters (3)

Attendance: 14,527

Starters

Monsters

Wolves

Goal Recap

Morgan Ellis put the Chicago Wolves on the board first with a shot from the hash marks four minutes into the game.

A little under 10 minutes later, Oleg Yevenko and Dillon Heatherington head to the box giving the Wolves a two-man advantage. Halfway through the penalties, Andrew Agozzino fired a rocket past Korpisalo and into the back of the net.

This was not the way the Monsters wanted to start the game.

Once the second period started it was game on for the Monsters.

Two minutes into the second period Oliver Bjorkstrand stole the puck from behind the net and sauced it to Justin Scott who had planted himself in front of the net. Scott took this opportunity to slam the puck into the net past Pheonix Copley. The Monsters were now within one of the Wolves.

In the final two minutes of the second period, Ryan Craig scored on a deflection from Scott’s shot.

The period would end with the Wolves and Monsters tied at two.

The Monsters spent most of the third period possessing the puck. However, neither team was able to score in regulation.

Overtime came and went without a score either.

Monsters and Wolves were headed to the craziest and longest shootout I have ever seen.

1st Round

Sonny Milano – Milano skates up the ice veering ever so slightly to the right. He then slows down while doing a little bit of fancy stick work before lifting the puck into the net – Goal

Magnus Paajarvi – Paajarvi speeds up the ice and fakes Korpisalo out. – Goal

2nd Round

Shawn Szydlowski – Szydlowski goes wide left speeding towards the net and tries to fire the puck over Copley’s right blocker – No Goal

Jordan Schmaltz – Schmaltz veers to the left before crossing the blueline. Then speeds directly at Korpisalo who saw him coming – No Goal

3rd Round

Markus Hannikainen – Hannikainen goes left after crossing the blueline. He then skates towards center ice, puts on the burners, and snows the goalie before popping the puck behind Copley’s right side. – Goal

Samuel Blais – Korpisalo went too far out of the crease and couldn’t get back in time to stuff Blais. Korpisalo was inches off. – Goal

4th Round

Jordan Maletta – Shot right through the five hole of Copley. – Goal

Andrew Agozzino – Agozzino goes wide left then swings back to the right before popping the puck in on Korpisalo’s glove side – Goal

5th Round

T.J. Tynan – Tynan skates up center ice and tries to fire through the five hole. Copley closes his legs at the last second. – No Goal

Kenny Agostino – Korpisalo comes out of the crease to go toe-to-toe with Agostino who fires it directly into his pads. – No Goal

6th Round

Nick Moutrey – Moutrey tries to sneak one past Copley’s right blocker. – No Goal

Ivan Barbashev – Korpisalo sat at the top of his crease following Barbashev’s every move. At the last second, Barbashev went left and fired. Korpisalo’s blocker was already there. – No Goal

7th Round

Paul Bittner – Bittner comes in hot and fires the puck in past Copley. – Goal

Wade Megan – Megan was too cunning for Korpisalo and found the back of the net. – Goal

8th Round

Justin Scott – Scott turns on the burners going left to right and dings the puck off the post. – No Goal

Vince Dunn – Dunn starts wide left , swings right, and tries to fire the puck through Korpisalo’s five hole. – No Goal

9th Round

Oliver Bjorkstrand – Bjorkstrand starts wide right and skates towards the middle before lifting the puck into the net knocking the Gatorade bottle into the air. – Goal

Brett Sterling – Sterling moved from east to west across the ice in an attempt to fake out Korpisalo. – No Goal

I don’t think anyone saw a nine-round shootout coming.  Especially not Korpisalo.

That was wild. Every time we scored, they scored. That was crazy”

But Wait! There’s More

Quick Thoughts

• John Madden made a smart coaching move in the first period when he pulled Korpisalo for the extra attacker before a penalty was called. These kind of plays are what make Maden a great coach. He trusts the team across the board.
• Against teams like the Wolves, Admirals, and Griffins the Monsters need to stop taking bad penalties. Lately, they have been leading to goals for the opposing squad.
• Great passing towards the end of the second period led to incredible plays. They clearly listened to what coach said about the value of patience the other night.
• During the first period, Korpisalo was all over the place. He didn’t seem quite comfortable. By the time the second period rolled around, Korpisalo had calmed down and began to put on a show for the crowd.  /

I think it was all about my timing. My timing wasn’t right in the first period. Once I got some shots in the first period, I got used to it pretty easily.

• Oliver Bjorkstrand had three incredible breakaways which amounted to nothing throughout the game. He learned from each stop and used it to his benefit during the shootout.  /

3 Stars

1st – Oliver Bjorkstrand (1 shootout goal, 1a)

2nd – Joonas Korpisalo (25 saves, 64:44 TOI, Stopped 5 shootout goal attempts)

3rd – Justin Scott (1g, 1a)

Milestones

Oliver Bjorkstrand scored his 50th AHL point.

What’s Next?

Oliver Bjorkstrand, Ryan Craig, and Anton Forsberg are headed to the AHL All-Star Classic on January 29th and 30th in Lehigh Valley, home of the Phantoms.

Both the Skills Competition and the All-Star challenge will be shown on Sports Time Ohio. The AHL All-Star Skills Competition will be shown at 7:30 pm est on Sunday, January, 29th. While the AHL All-Star Challenge will take place at 7 pm est on Monday, January 30th.

The next Cleveland Monsters game will take place at home against the Iowa Wild on February 3rd, 2017 at 7pm est.