By Elaine Shircliff in Front Page — Oct 13, 2017 —

Recap: Pendenza, Monsters Spoil Moose Home Opener

Joe Pendenza’s two goals help power the Monsters to a 4-3 win over the Moose.

Cleveland Monsters (4) at Manitoba Moose (3)

Attendance: 7,582

Starters

Monsters

Mitchell-Broadhurst-Hodgson

Nutivaara-Kukan

Thiessen

Moose

Sgarbossa-Spacek-Lemieux

Stoykewych-Schilling

Hutchinson

Goal Recap

The first goal of the game didn't come until there were three minutes and 20 seconds left in the first period. Julian Melchiori launched a rocket through traffic to put the Moose on the board first.

Calvin Thurkauf tied things up for the Monsters two minutes into the second period. Joe Pendenza bounced the puck off of Michael Hutchinson's pad. Thurkauf scooped up the rebound and banged it past Hutchinson for the goal.

Patience paid off for Carter Camper in the second period. At the 15 minute mark, Camper found himself in the same position and situation as a few plays earlier. Instead of firing a shot off right away like he did before, Camper paused before shooting the puck. Hutchinson flinched too soon leaving a puck-sized hole for Camper to give the Monsters the 2-1 lead.

Jack Roslovic received a pass from Kyle Connor on his forehand. He quickly fired the puck past Thiessen. Monsters and Moose were now tied at two goals each.

Not even a full minute later, Pendenza had a beauty of a backhand shot into the net to give the Monsters the lead again.

Moose Captain Patrice Cormier tied things up for the Moose a minute and 42 seconds into the third period. JC Lipon passed the puck to Cormier who did a saucy little backhand to forehand before sliding the puck into the net.

Five minutes later, Pendenza received a pass at the faceoff dot and fired it glove side for the game-winner.

But Wait! There's More

Quick Thoughts

I can't say enough about Thurkauf. Not only is his skating phenomenal but his ability to work well with any line and teammate is incredible. Kukan and Thurkauf have great communication. It makes things a lot easier when there isn't a disconnect between the offense and defense.
The power play was unsuccessful in the beginning of the game but it wasn't sloppy. By the time Camper scored, the pp was a well-oiled machine.
With the way Pendenza played tonight, you would never have guessed he just came back from an injury. From the moment he skated onto the ice, Pendenza was ready to make magic happen. /

3 Stars

1st – Joe Pendenza (2g, 0a)

2^nd – Jack Roslovic (1g, 0a)

3^rd – Calvin Thurkauf (1g, 0a)

Game Stats

Milestones

Calvin Thurkauf scored his first professional goal and point in the second period.

Rocky River native, Carter Camper, scored his first goal wearing a Monsters sweater.

Captaincy Report

Andre Benoit was the only “A” from the home opener to wear the letter tonight. The remaining two “A”s ended up on the sweaters of Brett Gallant and John Ramage.

Tony Brown spoke with Coach Madden about the fate of the captaincy during pregame. It looks as though we will have a better picture after the weekend.

Coach Madden discusses the power play and more ahead of tonight's match-up with the Manitoba Moose. #CLEMonsters pic.twitter.com/BqtlGzdmqQ
— Cleveland Monsters (@monstershockey) October 13, 2017

What's Next

The Monsters and Moose meet again on Sunday at 3pm. They come home on October 21^st for back-to-back games against the San Jose Barracudas.