Cleveland Monsters (2) at Ontario Reign (3) – Overtime
Attendance: 6,742
Starters
Monsters
T.Broadhurst-Dalpe-A.Broadhurst
Austin-Cockerill
Zatkoff
Reign
Moulson-Maillet-Mersch
Fantenberg-Roy
Petersen
Monsters Lines
T.Broadhurst-Dalpe-A.Broadhurst
Gerbe-Vigneault-Schroeder
Bittner-Scott-Koules
Thurkauf-Kirkpatrick-Kujawinski
Monsters Pairings
Austin-Cockerill
Gaunce-Collins
Savage-Graves
Goal Recap
The Cleveland Monsters did not find the win they were looking for last night. They did a lot of good things but, in the end, the Ontario Reign were the better team.
The Reign struck first 9:43 into the game.
T.J. Hensick was left alone in front of the crease. Brett Sutter saw Hensick standing all by his lonesome and made sure the puck ended up on his stick. Hensick fired it past Jeff Zatkoff for the 1-0 lead over the Monsters.
The second period was a goal bonanza. Three goals were scored in the first 10 minutes of the period.
Cleveland started the second off with a bang by scoring in the first 32 seconds of the period.
Terry Broadhurst passed the puck along the backside of the net to his brother, Alex Broadhurst. At this point, Garrett Cockerill was rushing towards the net. A.Broadhurst saw Cockerill coming and flung the puck his way. Cockerill swiftly launched the puck into the net to tie the game, 1-1.
Not even two minutes later, the Monsters took the 2-1 lead over the Reign.
Calvin Thurkauf drove the net hard but was stuffed by Cal Petersen. Ryan Kujawinski scooped up the rebound and hammered it into the net.
With 10:51 to play in the second, the Reign tied the game at two.
Austin Wagner stole the puck from Sam Vigneault who was passing to Brady Austin. Cockerill tried to stop Wagner from scoring but it was too late. Wagner skated through the top of the crease before firing the puck past Zatkoff.
Both teams tried their hardest to score before regulation time ran out. No dice.
This game was destined for overtime from the very beginning.
Former Monster, Hensick, put the nail in the Monsters coffin 2:58 into overtime.
Yet again, Hensick was left alone. This time it was at the left faceoff dot.
A drop back pass by Oscar Fantenberg led to Hensick’s goal.
But Wait! There’s More
Quick Thoughts
- If the Monsters had been able to rebound at least 30% of their shots on goal, they would have easily beat the Reign.
- Calvin Thurkauf made a few gutsy moves which proved beneficial to the team. Per tradition, Coach Madden called for Thurkauf’s line to leave the ice when they had momentum going. Many times last night Thurkauf made the decision to stay on the ice instead of heading to the bench. Normally I get upset when a player refuses to listen to the coach and do their own thing. Coach normally knows best. However, recently, Coach Madden has been killing the momentum for the Monsters by pulling the third and fourth line off the ice too soon. When you have a team full of capable play makers, you need to trust they will be successful.
- Ryan Collins has a lot of work to do this summer. For every good thing he does on the ice, he cancels it out by doing something bad like turning over the puck or taking a silly penalty. Despite his flaws, Collins has the potential to be an outstanding defenceman.
- Cameron Gaunce stepped into the role of protector last night. He was ready to fight at a moment’s notice. There were multiple times Gaunce came to the aide of guys like Calvin Thurkauf and Nathan Gerbe.
- It was a good thing the Reign’s accuracy was off last night. There were too many times the Monsters allowed them to barrel down the ice towards Zatkoff.
- Zac Dalpe left the game with an injury in the first period. If he’s out for any game this season, it will be a huge blow to the team. /
3 Stars
1st – T.J. Hensick (2g, 0a)
2nd – Oscar Fantenberg (0g, 2a)
3rd – Austin Wagner (1g, 0a)
Game Stats
Captaincy Report
Nathan Gerbe, Alex Broadhurst, and Zac Dalpe donned the “A” for last night’s game.
What’s Next
They finally leave California on March 16th but only to head to Texas where they will play the Stars. It’s a 9:30 pm et puck drop. A whole 30 minutes earlier than most of the games on this road trip.
The trip finally ends on Sunday, March 18th at 5pm et against the San Antonio Rampage.
Cleveland finally returns home on Tuesday, March 20th. They play four games in six days before heading back out West again.