Chicago Wolves (1) at Cleveland Monsters (4)
Attendance: 6,168
Starters
Monsters
| Moutrey | Scott | Gallant | |||
| Ramage | Sifers | ||||
| Forsberg | |||||
Wolves
| Caron | Malone | Loney | |||
| Lindbohm | Butler | ||||
| Husso | |||||
Goal Recap
The Wolves scored their first and only goal in the first period of the game. Four and a half minutes into the game, Jordan Caron accepted a pass from James Wisniewski and fired from the goal line. Ty Loney grabbed a piece of the puck before it went into the net.
Three minutes into the second period, Markus Hannikainen deflected Marc-Andre Bergeron’s shot from the top of the right faceoff circle to tie the game.
Five minutes into the third period, Captain Ryan Craig scooped up his own rebound to give the Monsters the lead over the Wolves, 2-1. This was Craig’s second game-winner in a row.
Two and a half minutes later, T.J. Tynan fired a rocket from the left face-off dot to extend the Monsters lead to two.
With three minutes left in the game, Justin Scott banged one home from the below the right faceoff circle to seal the deal for the Monsters.
“Obviously being out for so long and coming back it’s a bit of a chip on my shoulder. I thought I kept myself ready to play. It was only a matter of time. I’m just happy to contribute.” – Justin Scott
But Wait! There’s More
Quick Thoughts
- Tonight’s starting lineup had a combined 285 penalty minutes. I thought it was so the Monsters could display their dominance over the Wolves. Coach John Madden had a completely different reason why he started the “Bad Boys” line. /
“They played well. I thought they were our best line in the last game. I thought they played heavy. They always know what to do with the puck. It’s always going to go deep. They finish checks. We wanted to set the tone.”
- Sometimes I forget how good Brett Gallant is at setting up plays before he leaves the ice for a line change.
- A little under 17 minutes to go in the game, Anton Forsberg left the net unattended. Mackenzie MacEachern fired a shot towards the unattended net. Lucky for the Monsters, Forsberg is quick on his feet and got there in time to stop the puck. /
- Zac Dalpe had multiple breakaways tonight but was stopped by Ville Husso every single time. He’s hungry for a goal. Dalpe also spent the night creating turnovers and stealing pucks. The Wolves were definitely rattled by his play tonight.
- There were two fisticuffs in the final 90 seconds of the game. If this is any indicator of what is to come, tomorrow’s matchup between the two will be rather intense.
- Normally the Monsters struggle on the power play but tonight they played a clean and crisp game. They ended up going two for four on the power play.
- Yet again, the Monsters didn’t lose their composure when they were down heading into the second period./
“It’s a sign of us growing as a team.” – Ryan Craig
3 Stars
1st – Anton Forsberg (20 saves, 21 shots faced)
2nd – Ryan Craig (1g, 0a, game-winner)
3rd – T.J. Tynan (1g, 1a)
Milestones
Justin Scott scored his 10th AHL goal tonight. He was assisted by T.J. Tynan who notched his 100th AHL assist.
Vince Dunn of the Chicago Wolves earned his 25th AHL assist on Ty Loney’s goal in the first period.
With this win, the Monsters broke the Wolves 13 game point streak.
What’s Next
The Monsters and Wolves meet again on Wednesday, March 21st at 7pm est in Cleveland.
“Still a lot of work to do. We took care of our business tonight. They will be ready to go tomorrow and so will we.” – Ryan Craig