Hello, all! Sorry for the delay – this time of year gets a little hectic so we’re back and we’ll be recapping the last two weeks in a few big chunks (by league and country) along with anything else noteworthy.
We’ve got a lot of time – and hockey – to cover so let’s get going!
Starting off in Cleveland as we always do, the Monsters opened with a game against Grand Rapids and the Griffins took an early lead before the Great Dane struck. Off a faceoff, Oliver Bjorkstrand gathered the puck and fired a shot from the circle to make it 1-1. After a second period goal by the Griffins, the Monsters struck when Dean Kukan skated out of the zone and fired a pass through three defenders that found Markus Hannikainen who then skated in and fired to make it 2-2. The game went to overtime and, with the Monsters on the power play, Sonny Milano entered the zone and passed to TJ Tynan. Tynan passed back and forth with John Ramage before Ramage fired on a one timer to clinch the Monsters the 3-2 victory. The Monsters went three for three on the power play in the win and Joonas Korpisalo made 22 saves.
After that it was off to Manitoba for a pair against the Moose. In the first, Kukan passed to Daniel Zaar who fired a blast to make it 1-0 with his sixth of the season. In the second with the Monsters on the power play, Ramage got the puck out of a board battle before sending a pass to Alex Broadhurst who scored to make it 2-0. Just over two minutes later, Tynan intercepted a clearing attempt and found a streaking in Ryan Craig who made it 3-0. Two minutes later Craig struck again when Broadhurst found the captain in front for his second of the game. In the third, the Moose finally got on the board when Columbus native Jack Roslovic scored to make it 4-1. Two minutes later with the Monsters shorthanded, Jordan Maletta got the puck along the boards and sent it into the neutral zone springing Hannikainen who was off to the races and made it 5-1 off a backhand. In the win Anton Forsberg made 34 saves.
In the rematch, the Moose took the lead with Kyle Connor’s first career goal in the second. In the third, Nick Moutrey skated in on a three on one with Moutrey passing to Hannikainen who finished it for his eighth of the season. The game went to a shootout and Kyle Connor would score on Korpikopski (way to go Moose play by play guy) before Milano would do what he does best by going backhand to tie it. After a Moose miss, Aaron Palushaj scored and Korpisalo stopped the last Manitoba shooter to clinch the win. In the win, Korpisalo made 31 saves and stopped two of three in the shootout.
Next up it was off to the Q for a pair against the Iowa Wild. Alex Tuch opened the scoring before Joe Pendenza scored off a deflected pass from Palushaj. Dalton Prout picked up his first AHL point since 2013-14 on the goal as well. A few minutes later, the Monsters struck on a wacky goal with Zaar finally getting credit for the tally. Late in the first, Tynan fired a shot that was stopped but Milano gathered the puck and found Broadhurst in front to make it 3-1. The Wild scored two in the second to tie it and the game went to overtime. In overtime, Tynan entered the zone and passed to Ramage who passed it back to Tynan who skated into the slot and fired to clinch the win for the Monsters. Forsberg made 26 saves in the win and picked up an assist on the game winner.
On “chuck a bear night,” Zaar unleash the bear toss when, late in the first, he skated around the net and fired a shot from below the circles for his eighth of the season. The game remained 1-0 Monsters before a certain ex-Jackets prospect, Mike Reilly, scored to tie it at one late in the third. The game would go to a shootout with the Wild scoring twice in the five round shootout. In the loss, Korpisalo made 30 saves.
Closing out the week it was off to Chicago for a game against the Wolves. After a scoreless first, the dogs struck before a greybeard would get on the board. Just three minutes after the Chicago goal, Broadhurst roared into the zone and threw the puck across rink to Jamie Sifers who gathered it and fired a shot to tie it at one right as a delayed penalty was being called. The game went to overtime and, again, it was another old timer who ended up as the hero. Early in the overtime period, freshly signed to a PTO Marc-Andre Bergeron had two chances at the puck before the Wolves regained possession. But Broadhurst was able to apply pressure, steal the puck and find Bergeron in the slot who’d do what he does best -hammer the puck past the Wolves goalie for his first goal of the season. In the win, Forsberg made 21 saves.
Cleveland now sits at 13-11-1-2 on the season and stands fourth in the Central Division and 16th overall in the AHL.
Be sure to check back tomorrow when we take a look at all the CBJ prospect action in North American Junior play.
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