Recap: Monsters Powered By Motte’s Three Points

San Jose Barracuda (1) at Cleveland Monsters (4)

Attendance: 6,892

Starters

Monsters

Hannikainen – Camper – Motte

Ramage – Gaunce

Thiessen

Barracuda

Sandberg-McCarthy-Mashinter

Bergman-Middleton

Grosenick

Monsters Lines

Forwards

Broadhurst-Pendenza-Schroeder

Motte-Camper-Hannikainen

Thurkauf-Scott-Koules

Gallant-Maletta-Hodgson

*The third and fourth line moved around a bit during the game. Seems like Madden is trying to feel out those final two lines.

Defense

Gaunce-Ramage

Benoit-Collins

Kukan-Siebenaler

Goal Recap

Things started off on the right foot for the Monsters this afternoon.

Thirty-five seconds into the game Markus Hannikainen sauced the puck to Carter Camper who slammed it home.

The second goal of the afternoon came at 12:56 of the second period. John Ramage scooped up an unattended puck and took off towards Troy Grosenick like a wild man. No one was able to stop him. Ramage was able to fire one home for the Monsters' goal.

Ramage takes off like a wild man towards the net and fires one home for the goal. #Clemonsters lead the Barracuda, 2-0. #SJvsCLE pic.twitter.com/4MlU2a3JRB

— Elaine Shircliff (@imaraindancer) October 21, 2017

The first Barracuda goal of the night came almost two minutes into the period. Alexander True launched a shot towards Brad Thiessen.However, the puck bounced off of the post back into the fray. Miles Koules grabbed the puck but Marcus Sorensen wrestled it away. He quickly passed it off to Jacob Middleton who saw Bollig open at the left faceoff circle. Once the puck hit Bollig's stick he fired it behind Thiessen.

Six minutes later, Miles Koules was posted in front of Grosenick and outworked his opponent to poke the puck into the net.

“That was a second effort goal. He spun off. It was one man's will against another man's. He really wanted to score that goal and that's sometimes what it takes.” - John Madden

The Barracuda would pull Grosenick from the net with a minute to play. Tyler Motte would score on the empty net almost immediately.

But Wait! There's More

Quick Thoughts

• Alex Broadhurst constantly shows why he is one of the main leaders on the Monsters. During the first period, Broadhurst began to limp off the ice towards the bench. He saw a Barracuda winding up to take a shot. Instead of getting off the ice, he threw his body in front of the puck.    /

“That's how you win games. I'm  proud of him. All the guys basically gave him a standing “O” on the bench. If that's what it takes to win games, you gotta get out of your comfort zone every once in awhile. That was out of his  comfort zone.” - John Madden

• In his first game back with the  Monsters, Markus Hannikainen has shown what a valuable asset he is to the team. Head Coach John Madden definitely enjoys having him back on the ice.    /

“It's a two-fold. We'd rather see Hanni up there helping the Columbus Blue Jackets. I'm sure Hanni would too. The professionalism when he came down here, how hard he played today, even though he was upset he got sent down. It's just outstanding; a class act. He's such a leader for us.” - John  Madden

• Coach Madden is still feeling out who will be on the fourth line. He changed it up multiple times during the game. It looks as though the first and second line is pretty much set in stone. Although, Motte was bumped to the first line towards the end of the game.
• The past three games, Madden has started the second line with the first defensive pairing. The second line supplied the most points tonight.    /

3 Stars

1st – John Ramage (1g, 0a)

2^nd –  Tyler Motte (1g, 2a)

3^rd –  Brad Thiessen (18 saves, 19 shots faced, TOI: 59:55)

Game Stats

Milestones

The Barracuda's coach, Roy Sommer, is no stranger to Cleveland. He coached the Cleveland Barons from 2001-06. This was the first game Sommer has coached in Cleveland since the Barons moved to San Jose.

Captaincy Report

Andre Benoit, Alex Broadhurst, and Carter Camper all wore the “A” today. No captain is on the horizon as of yet.

What's Next

The Monsters and Barracuda meet back at Quicken Loans Arena on Sunday at 5pm. It's the first kids day of the season. The first 2,500 kids under 14 will receive a Monsters Trick-or-Treat Bucket and a pass to Cedar Point's Halloweekends. There will also be a Postgame Skate.