Cleveland Monsters (2) at San Antonio Rampage(4)
Attendance: 3,012
Starters
Monsters
Broadhurst-Dalpe-Milano
Kukan-Austin
Kulbakov
Rampage
Grimaldi-Belzile-Blais
Butler-Siemens
Husson
Monsters Lines
Broadhurst-Dalpe-Milano
Moutrey-Camper-Koules
Thurkauf-Pendenza-Hodgson
Scott-Vigneault-Bittner
Monsters Pairings
Gaunce-Ramage
Austin-Kukan
Benoit-Siebenaler
Goal Recap
The San Antonio Rampage were the first on the board 56 seconds into the game. Brady Austin attempted to pass the puck to Carter Camper when Andrew Agozzino flew in to break up the play. A.J. Greer grabbed the puck that was just out of reach of Camper’s stick. Greer fired the puck from the edge of the left faceoff circle into the back of the Monsters’ net.
A little under eight minutes into the first period the Rampage extended their lead over the Monsters to 2-0. Camper softly passed the puck to Dean Kukan who was set up at the blue line. Dominic Toninato intercepted the puck before it could get to Kukan’s stick. They battled for a few moments before Toninato sent the puck over to his teammate, Adam Musil. After a battle on the boards, Musil would send the puck right back to Toninato who would fire it home for the Rampage’s second goal of the night.
Four minutes later the Monsters had their shining moment. Carter Camper passed the puck to Miles Koules who was setup in the left faceoff circle. Once the puck landed on Koules’ stick, he fired it into the back of the net.
The Monsters second and final goal of the night would come almost six minutes into the second period. Alex Broadhurst would intercept the puck and pass it off to Nick Moutrey. Moutrey would race towards the net before firing off a shot from the right faceoff circle.
A little over three minutes later the Rampage would take the lead, 3-2. Tage Thompson faked a shot to Ivan Kulbakov’s left. He instead would pass the puck to Chris Buttler who squeaked it into the net past Kulbakov’s right skate.
With a little over two minutes to play in the game, Samuel Blais would fire home Tage Thompson’s rebound to extend the Rampage’s lead to 4-2.
But Wait! There’s More
Quick Thoughts
- With the return of Zac Dalpe, Miles Koules, Sonny Milano, and Blake Siebenaler the lines/pairings were changed up a bit. Personally, I think the Pendenza, Milano, A.Broadhurst line is one of the best lines. They read each other well. Same thing with Camper, Koules, and Bittner/Vigneault. I’m sure things will start to gel during the next five games which span over eight days. They’ll have no choice but to make it work.
- There were a lot of soft and fumbled passes which led to giveaways during the game.
- Ivan Kulbakov basically stood on his head in the third period to stop shots from going into the net. The first two games of Kulbakov’s professional career have shown us of what he is capable of as the season goes on. /
3 Stars
1st – Chris Butler (1g, 0a)
2nd – Tage Thompson (0g, 2a)
3rd – Dominic Toninato (1g, 0a)
Game Stats
Captaincy Report
Familiar faces, Andre Benoit and Alex Broadhurst wore the “A” tonight. While Zac Dalpe got his first go with the “A” on his sweater this season.
The Rampage named Chris Butler as their Captain earlier today. While the Rampage are the farm team of the Colorado Avalanche, Butler is a St. Louis Blues prospect. Until the Blues call San Antonio home next season their prospects will be split between the Chicago Wolves and Rampage.
What’s Next
The Monsters have a day off before playing the Texas Stars on Saturday at 8pm.
Then they come home for a four-game homestand leading up to Christmas.