x

Already member? Login first!

Comments / New

Recap: Monsters Fall to the Griffins for the Second Night in a Row

Grand Rapids Griffins (5) at Cleveland Monsters (3)

Attendance:  15,117

Starters

Monsters

Moutrey-Dalpe-A.Broadhurst

Austin-Siebenaler

Kivlenieks

Griffins

Lorito-Turgeon-Campbell

Russo-Renouf

McCollum

Monsters Lines

Moutrey-Dalpe-A.Broadhurst

Bittner-Camper-Koules

Thurkauf-Scott-Hodgson

Collins-Gallant-MacIntyre

Monsters Pairings

Austin-Siebenaler

Benoit-Gaunce

Carlsson-Ramage

Goal Recap

For the fourth game in a row, the Monsters allowed the opposing team to score five goals.

Colin Campbell started things off for the Grand Rapids Griffins 31 seconds into the game. He was able to angle his shot in just right.

A little over 10 minutes later, Evgeny Svechnikov banged a puck in off the post to give the Griffins the 2-0 lead over the Monsters.

Around eight minutes into the second period, Colin Campbell fired a shot which trickled through Matiss Kivlenieks five-hole. The puck didn’t cross the line right away. Everyone scrambled for the puck in an attempt to either score a goal or clear it out of the crease. Dominic Turgeon came out victorious after poking the puck into the net.

Four minutes later, Turgeon would score again. He fumbled the puck a few times before being able to poke it past Kivlenieks.

With under five minutes to play in the second period, Nick Moutrey passed the puck to Carter Camper who fired it past Tom McCollum. Camper put a lot of muscle behind the shot. I can only imagine how much it would have hurt had McCollum managed to stop the puck from entering the net.

A little under eight minutes into the third period, the Grand Rapids Griffins extended their lead over the Monsters, 5-1. Matt Puempel banged the puck in off the corner of where the left post and crossbar meet.

Not even 20 seconds later, Miles Koules launched a rocket of a shot past McCollum’s glove.

With 37 seconds left in the game, Zac Dalpe scored the Monsters’ third and final goal of the night. He scooped up his own rebound and snuck it past McCollum for the goal.

But Wait! There’s More

Quick Thoughts

  • Both sides came out of the locker room to start the second period with no pep in their step.
  • Frantic hockey made its appearance after Turgeon’s second goal of the night. The Monsters settled down right before Camper’s  goal.
  • After Gallant racked up 17 minutes worth of penalties and was booted from the game, the Monsters headed to a seven-minute long penalty kill. They managed to kill almost six minutes before the Griffins were able to score. This is proof the Monsters’ special teams are starting to come together.    /

“You take a seven-minute penalty and you kill almost six of it off. They had one scoring chance and it went in.” – Coach John Madden

  • Between injuries and call-ups, this team is incredibly young. Especially Kivlenieks and Kulbakov. While the other players have a  veteran presence on the ice during the game, the goaltenders do not.    /

“Both guys are really young. Both guys played in the USHL  last year. They are going to need some time and some season. It obviously hurts without having the veteran Thiessen in the lineup and being the go-to guy. We’ll get through it and we’ll be the  better team for it.” – Coach John Madden

  • The best thing about the 2017-18 Monsters is the way they protect each other. In the second period, Joe Hicketts rocked Calvin Thurkauf. An unhappy Brett Gallant went to town on Hicketts. The refs had a very hard time getting them separated.    /

“It’s something you have to do. Every guy out there knows  that as long as another guy has his back and we are all doing the  right things together things will turn around.” – Coach  John Madden

3 Stars

1st –  Dominic Turgeon (2g, 1a)

2nd –  Evgeny Svechnikov (1g, 0a)

3rd – Zac Dalpe (1g, 0a)

Game Stats

Captaincy Report

Coach John Madden had his normal crew of Carter Camper, Alex Broadhurst, and Andre Benoit wearing the “A” for tonight’s game.

Milestones

Zac Dalpe’s goal in the third period was his first Monsters’ goal of the season.

Attendance for tonight’s game was 15,117. This was the largest regular-season attendance in two years for the Monsters.

What’s Next

The Monsters will kick off 2018 playing seven games over the course of 13 days on the road.

First up for the Monsters will be the Rockford IceHogs on January 2nd.