Cleveland Monsters Sweep Three Game New York Road Trip
Photo Credit: Cleveland Monsters
After a 4-2 loss to the Rochester Americans left an unsavory taste in the Cleveland Monsters’ mouth, the team headed east towards the great state of New York. Unfortunately for the Utica Comets and Syracuse Crunch, the Monsters were unwilling to keep the bitter taste of loss in their mouths and swept the road trip, 3-2, 5-2, and 4-0.
Here are a few takeaways from the November 8 - 11, 2024 weekend road trip.
Lineup Tweaks Have Been Helpful
Some minor tweaks were made to Cleveland’s lineup during the road trip. After returning from an injury, Rocco Grimaldi didn’t quite settle in well on the first line with Trey Fix-Wolansky and Luca Del Bel Belluz as he did at the start of the season. This weekend the Monsters moved Grimaldi to the second line with Owen Sillinger and Dylan Gambrell and moved James Malatesta to the first line. Whether they were scoring goals or creating meaningful plays, throughout the weekend you saw both lines excel. Grimaldi also has a lot of protection playing with Sillinger and Gambrell, who are unafraid to get aggressive with an unruly opponent.
Corson Ceulemans, who typically is on the second pair, joined Ole Julian Bjorgvik-Holm on the bottom pairing. This is a perfect situation for both of them. In the past week, Ceulemans has gotten a bit feisty and needs to learn to control his chaos better. He also needs to be able to take a hit and give better hits. Bjorgvik-Holm can help Ceulemans grow as a player in those areas as this is something he struggled with in the past himself. Plus, it gives Bjorgvik-Holm a chance to show everyone the leadership skills that lie within him.
By Monday night, you could see the change in both Bjorgvik-Holm and Ceulemans. They followed through on their hits and were feisty without causing too much of a ruckus.
Max McCue Will Soon Be Dangerous
Rookie forward Max McCue made some offensive noise this weekend with his smooth passing and ability to keep plays moving. On top of that, he squared off against Max Crozier for his first professional fight. Had the refs not pulled them apart, McCue would have come away with a resounding win.
Right now, McCue's only downside is his inconsistent play. He starts games strong and tapers off halfway through the second period. At this time, his inconsistency is nothing to worry about. It's one of the little kinks most rookies have to work out in their first professional season.
Faceoffs Have Proven Helpful
A quarter of Cleveland’s goals came within moments of winning a faceoff in the offensive zone. After a faceoff win, maintaining possession is one of the keys to having success. Cleveland constantly proves this point. In fact, when the Monsters win a faceoff in the offensive zone, they tend to maintain possession for a short amount of time due to the fact they are finding the back of the net or getting grade ”A” scoring chances.
