Cleveland Monsters (1) at Charlotte Checkers (6)

Attendance: 8,003

Starters

Monsters

Checkers

Goal Recap

A high-sticking penalty by Akim Aliu in the first few minutes of the game led to the first goal of the night. Right as time ran out on the penalty, Jake Chelios fired from the blue line to give the Checkers the early lead.

With four minutes left in the first period, the Checkers set up a screen which blocked Thiessen’s vision to the point where he didn’t even know where the puck was after Dennis Robertson fired it into the net.

Alternate angle: the goalie still doesn’t know where the puck is 🙈 pic.twitter.com/LryTGbkynG

— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) February 25, 2017

Not even two minutes into the second period, Lucas Wallmark scored off a rebound to give Checkers the 3-0 lead.

Thirty seconds later, Patrick Brown converted a cross-ice pass into the Checkers fourth goal of the night.

At this point, the Monsters opted to swap Thiessen for Forsberg. The first play Forsberg saw immediately turned into a goal. Kris Newbury spun around in front and beat Forsberg’s glove side.

With two and a half minutes left in the second period, Jordan Maletta redirected a Daniel Zaar shot into the back of the net. The Monsters were finally on the board.

Wallmark scored his second goal of the night with five minutes to play in the game. He contemplated passing the puck but opted to fire it directly underneath the crossbar to give the Checkers the 6-1 lead.

But Wait! There’s More

Quick Thoughts

• The fourth line of Brett Gallant, Joe Devin, and Blake Siebenaler is the most consistent Monsters’ line.
• Ryan Craig is finally back at full go after his injury earlier this season. The team has been hungry for his leadership on the ice.
• In the first period, the Monsters had a four-minute power play which left us wanting more. The power play has been rough all season and needs to be tightened up asap.
• Anton Forsberg stopped seven shots in the span of 10 seconds during the third period. While it was an impressive display from Forsberg, it wasn’t impressive from the defensive end. Not a single rebound was picked up by the Monsters. For the past few months, John  Madden has been stressing the importance of attacking the blue paint on both ends. At some point, it has to stick.    /

3 Stars

1^st – Andrew Miller (0g, 4a)

2^nd – Lucas Wallmark (2g, 0a)

3^rd – Jake Chelios (1g, 0a)

What’s Next

The Monsters head back to Cleveland for a one-game homestand where they will take on the Grand Rapids Griffins. Puck drops at 7pm est at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.