Monsters Force Eastern Conference Finals Game Seven
Photo Credit: Cleveland Monsters
Cleveland Monsters (3) at Hershey Bears (2) - OVERTIME
Attendance: 9,511
Officials
Referees : Cody Beach (45), Stephen Hiff (46)
Linesperson: Ryan Jackson (84), Joseph Mahon (89)
Cleveland Lines
Pyyhtia - Gaunce - Matteau
Malatesta - Sillinger - Fix-Wolansky
Angle - Gaudet - Ahcan
Pearson - Dunne - Whelan
Cleveland Pairings
Svozil - Jiricek
Mateychuk - Christiansen
Zboril - Sweezey
Hershey Lines
Snively - Lapierre - Frank
Limoges - Huntington - Rybinski
Miroshnichenko - Roe - Vecchione
Strome - Sutter - Trineyev
Hershey Pairings
Haman Aktell - Mcilrath
Massie - Priskie
Day - Iorio
Goal Recap
On Monday night, the Cleveland Monsters took down the reigning Calder Cup Champions, the Hershey Bears,3-2, to force game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Owen Sillinger opened the scoring for Cleveland with 2:46 left in the first period. Great relay puck passing by Stefan Matteau and James Malatesta helped make Sillinger’s one-timer from the left faceoff dot come to fruition on the power play.
Hershey forward Henrik Rybinski tied the game at one with a zinger from the top of the slot 10:37 into the second period. The play moved too fast for any of the Monsters to register what was happening in a timely manner.
With 49.3 seconds to play in regulation, forward Joe Snively gave Hershey the 2-1 lead over Cleveland. A minor breakdown by the Monsters and a lot of skill and communication by the Bears led Hershey to take the late lead.
When it felt like all hope was lost, Monsters Captain Brendan Gaunce flung a shot from just above the goal line at the wall towards the net. As luck would have it, the puck flew into the net, tying the game,2-2, 17 seconds after Hershey took the lead.
The Monsters sealed the deal with 2:29 left in overtime when Jake Christiansen (in his first game back from an injury) launched a shot from below the blue line into the net.
But Wait!! There’s More!
Quick Thoughts
There has been a lot of talk about Trey Fix-Wolansky's lack of production on the stat sheet. However, there is a key part of his game being left out of the story. While Fix-Wolansky has struggled to score and put meaningful shots on net, he has adapted other parts of his game to help the Monsters succeed. As always, he's still Cleveland’s biggest fan and motivator. Also, Fix-Wolansky has started to start plays and keep them moving. He no longer is solely a finisher.
After Jet Greaves let in Hershey's second goal of the night, he laid on the ice in defeat. When he didn't get up right away, the Monsters came over and lifted him, metaphorically and literally. It was at that moment Cleveland showed the world they have each other’s backs and are not going to back down. This mindset allowed the Monsters to force overtime.
Typically, many members of the Monsters wildly swing their sticks around during the game. On Monday, the sticks stayed on the ice, preventing the Bears from being able to quickly find shooting and passing lanes.
Monsters fans, don’t get attached to Denton Mateychuk. With the way he’s been playing in the Eastern Conference Finals, Mateychuk will likely go straight to Columbus after training camp. Enjoy him while you can.
3 Stars
1st - Jake Christiansen (CLE, 1g, 0a, game winning goal)
2nd - Brendan Gaunce (CLE, 1g, 0a)
3rd - Joe Snively (1g, 0a)
What’s Next
The Cleveland Monsters and Hershey Bears meet in game seven on Wednesday at 7pm at the Giant Center.
Winner moves on to the 2024 Calder Cup Finals against the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
