Recap: Monsters Extend Win Streak to Three Games

Chicago Wolves (1) at Cleveland Monsters (2) – Shootout

Attendance: 5,833

Starters

Monsters

Wolves

Goal Recap

The Wolves got on the board first for the second night in a row. Halfway through the period, Brett Sterling scored off a rebound.

Twenty seconds into the second period, Zac Dalpe fired a wicked shot from the left faceoff dot to tie things up for the Monsters.

“You just kind of close your eyes and hope for the best. *chuckles * You know coming down with speed I like to go low blocker. So, I gave her a try and the hockey gods took over from there.” – Zac Dalpe

Regulation and overtime were not enough time to decide this game. This game was headed to a shootout.

Shootout

Round 1

Markus Hannikainen – Hannikainen sped towards the net at full speed before faking a point blank shot. He then backhanded the puck past the left side of Jordan Binnington – Goal

Kenny Agostino – Agostino launched a rocket down the middle but Brad Thiessen stood strong. – No Goal

Round 2

Zac Dalpe – Dalpe fired from the right of Binnington into the net. – Goal

“I’ve been trying that over the years. I don’t really think too much when I go down on the goalie. So, he gave me low blocker and I took it.” – Zac Dalpe

Andrew Agozzino – Agozzino sped towards the net and fired the puck squarely into Thiessen’s chest. – No Goal

But Wait! There’s More

Quick Thoughts

• Brad Thiessen started in net for the Monsters tonight. The last time he played was in the Monsters  7-3 loss against the Wolves on March 4^th. The rest must have done Thiessen some good. He played like his life depended on a win.    /

“I was nervous in the beginning. I hadn’t been in for awhile. Once the game gets going and pucks get  firing you kind of settle into the flow of the game.” – Brad  Thiessen

• The Monsters have two new guys on the squad, Scott Savage and Hayden Hodgson. Savage made his professional debut in tonight’s game. He had a -1 and no shots on goal. However, for a kid coming straight from college, Savage held his own tonight. I have a feeling Savage will fill the defender role quite well for the rest of the season.    /

“Defense is a hard position to make the jump from college to the American Hockey League. The one thing I really like about him are his habits. His fundamentals are there. So, I thought he did a great job for us and stepped in to fill the role.” – Coach John Madden

• The Wolves thought they had a  second goal but there was incidental contact with Thiessen which negated the goal. Had the refs called the goal good, the Monsters would have needed to battle uphill for the rest of the game.    /

“It was the right call, first of all. Second of all, those things happen in a game. You just got to stay level-headed. You can’t get too high, too low. A goal is a goal. We still had a lot of time to come back.” – Coach John  Madden

• Maletta spent the game racing around the ice like a madman breaking up plays and knocking people over.    /

3 Stars

1^st – Brad Thiessen (45 saves, 46 shots faced, TOI: 65:00)

2^nd – Markus Hannikainen ( 1 shootout goal)

3^rd – Zac Dalpe (1g, 0a, 1 shootout goal)

Milestones

Scott Savage played in his first AHL and professional game.

Tage Thompson’s assist on Brett Sterling’s goal was his first AHL/Professional point and assist.

What’s Next

The Monsters have the day off on Thursday before playing a weekend homestand against the Iowa Wild. They play Friday at 7pm and Sunday at 3pm.