Recap: Monsters Drop Crucial Game to Wild in Overtime

Cleveland Monsters (1) at Iowa Wild (2) – Overtime

Attendance: 3,365

Starters

Monsters

Wild

Goal Recap

The first goal of the night didn’t come until the final eight seconds of the second period.

A bad bounce which put Anton Forsberg out of place allowed Gustav Olofsson to put the Wild on the board first.

WILD GOAL!!!! Olofsson makes it 1-0 #IAWild🚨🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/fvbJdamm7d

— Iowa Wild (@IAWild) April 5, 2017

The Monsters would tie things up nine minutes into the third period.

Dean Kukan received a pass from Daniel Zaar that landed right on the tape of his stick. Kukan fires it towards Zac Dalpe who taps it into the net for the first, and only, Monsters goal of the night. Dalpe now has five consecutive games with a goal.

Three periods weren’t enough to decide a winner in this important game. The Monsters and Wild were headed to overtime.

Right off the bat Luke Kunin fired a wrister which sailed over the crossbar. The Monsters could breathe easy for a moment but only a moment. A minute and eight seconds into overtime the Wild would win it all.

Alex Tuch fired a shot from the right circle that Forsberg managed to knock away. The rebound landed on Tyler Graovac’s stick. Without a thought he popped it in the net for the win.

But Wait! There’s More

Quick Thoughts

• The Monsters spent a lot of time in the offensive zone in the first period. They fired off 18 shots but couldn’t convert one into a goal. The Wild sent eight shots towards the net during the first. Most of them were great scoring chances that Forsberg worked hard to stop. Without Forsberg, the first period may have been a complete wash.
• Ryan Stanton was called for slashing. The ref saw the first one and let it go. When Stanton slashed the second time moments later it couldn’t go undisciplined. Moral of the story? Don’t press your luck with the refs.
• Carlsson and Yevenko are nice to have on the back line. They battle hard to keep pucks out of the defensive zone.
• During the third period, Kole Sherwood had a beautiful one-timer that unfortunately flew right over the crossbar. Would have been an incredible goal if it was a  hair lower.
• Sam Vigneault has a nice habit of lifting the opponents stick before they get a chance to take a whack at the puck. It’s a nice touch and definitely gets under the skin of anyone playing the Monsters.
• Joe Pendenza brings maximum effort to the penalty kill every time.    /

3 Stars

1^st  –  Alex Stalock (34 saves, 35 shots faced, TOI: 60:48)

2^nd – Tyler Graovac (1g, 0a)

3^rd – Gustav Olofsson (1g, 0a)

Playoff Race

With tonight’s loss, the Monsters dropped from 4th place to 5th place in the division. The rest of the season is going to be a footrace between the Checkers and Monsters. Close behind will be the Wild as tonight’s win mathematically keeps them in the hunt for the playoffs.

The Admirals clinched the third spot in the Central division tonight meaning there is only one spot left in the division. From here on out, it’s going to be an ultimate battle for the final spot.

What’s Next

The Monsters have a few days off before they play three games over the course of three days. Yes, the Monsters will play back-to-back-to-back games this week.

The first will take place in Milwaukee against the Admirals on Friday at 8pm est.

After that game, they will head to Grand Rapids to take on the Griffins at 7pm est on Saturday.

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