Cleveland Monsters (2) at Chicago Wolves (6)
Attendance: 8,217
Starters
Monsters
Robinson-Dalpe-Bittner
Cross-Carlsson
Berube
Wolves
Carr-Quinney-Macek
Reinhart-Whitecloud
Lagace
Monsters Lines
Robinson-Dalpe-Bittner
Gerbe-Broadhurst-Sherwood
Abramov-MacInnis-Letestu
Scott-Vigneault-Stenlund
Monsters Pairings
Cross-Carlsson
Simpson-Siebenaler
Somerby-Collins
Goal Recap
Coming into this afternoon’s game the Monsters were flying high on a two-game win-streak. The Monsters were hoping to extend the streak for the duration of their road trip.
The Chicago Wolves struck in the first 34 seconds of the game to show the Monsters this game was not going to be a cake walk. From below the goal line, Daniel Carr sent the puck to Griffin Reinhart who was waiting at the point. He immediately fired the puck in Gage Quinney’s direction. Quinney launched the puck from the left faceoff circle going topshelf on Jean-Francois Berube.
Three minutes later, Blake Siebenaler lost his stick on a play. This caused Berube to leave the net and skate towards the faceoff circle to play the puck. Unfortunately, Berube passed the puck directly to Brooks Macek who fired it right into the unattended net to give the Wolves the 2-0 lead over the Monsters.
A little over four minutes into the first period, Vitaly Abramov stole a mishandled puck and went topshelf on Max Lagace. The Monsters were within one of the Wolves, 2-1.
The scoring came to a stall until 5:36 into the second period. T.J. Tynan fired off a pass from the top of the circle near the wall to Stefan Matteau. A backhanded pass by Matteau landed on Macek’s stick before being fired into the net.
A little over a minute later, the Monsters made it 3 -2 in favor of the Wolves.
After a solid 30 seconds of passing and trying to find an opening to score, the Monsters found their chance. Tommy Cross missed the net causing the puck to bounce off the boards behind Max Lagace. Eric Robinson won a battle for the puck and skated up the back-right side of the net with the hope he would be able to squeak the puck in the net. Lagace quickly moved to stop him. Robinson saw Lagace move and wrapped around the net before pushing the puck into the left side of the goal.
Eight minutes into the second period, former Monster, T.J. Tynan extended the Wolves lead over the Monsters to 4-2. Brandon Pirri knocked the puck loose at the blue line and passed it over to Tynan. After outskating Ryan Collins, he backhanded the puck through Berube’s five-hole.
Quinney helped seal the deal for the Wolves in the third period.
Almost three minutes into the third period, Macek picked up Quinney’s faceoff draw and passes the puck to Zac Leslie. From the point, Leslie fired the puck over to Quinney who fired it past both Collins and Berube.
With 3:49 left in the game, Coach Madden pulled Berube in hopes the extra attacker would benefit the Monsters. Twenty-four seconds later, Macek intercepted a shot by Cross. Instead of firing the puck onto the open net, Macek passed the puck to Quinney who lofted it into the net for the hattie.
The Wolves came out of this mid-day game on top of the Monsters, 6-2.
But Wait! There’s More
Quick Thoughts
– Doyle Somerby is super aggressive this season
– Nathan Gerbe needed a lot of help today. He kept being left alone with no one to help scoop up his rebounds or off kilter shots.
– Jean-Francois Berube didn’t look very alive in the first period. As the game went on he slowly began to wake up. However, Berube still seems to be having trouble with closing his five-hole and stopping pucks from flying into the top left corner of the net.
– Dillon Simpson had a few great diving blocks. The guy sacrifices his body constantly.
– Bold move by the Monsters to sit Brett Gallant against his brother’s team today. The Monsters could have used Gallant’s hard hits and aggressiveness. He probably would have annihilated his brother a few times.
– Tommy Cross and Gabriel Carlsson are a great defensive pair. They provide a nice mix of grit and skill. This is a pairing I hope does not get separated any time soon.
3 Stars
1st – Gage Quinney (3g, 0a)
2nd – Brooks Macek (2g, 2a)
3rd – T.J. Tynan (1g, 1a)
Game Stats
What’s Next
The Monsters continue their road trip on Friday against the Admirals in Milwaukee at 8pm est. After the game, the Monsters will hop on the bus and head towards Rockford to take on the IceHogs on Saturday at 7pm est.