Monsters Stumble in 3-0 Loss to Comets
Jan 31, 2020The AHL’s Cleveland Monsters fell to the Utica Comets 3-0 on Friday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in front of 13,198 fans. With the loss, the Monsters are now 20-21-2-2 and are currently in eighth place in the AHL’s North Division standings with 44 points.
Utica’s Carter Bancks scored the first goal of the game at 5:08 in the opening frame followed by Nikolay Goldobin’s marker at 12:47 to send the Monsters to the intermission down 2-0 after 20 minutes. Despite numerous scoring chances, the Monsters were unable to find the back of the net and the Comets solidified the 3-0 victory after Goldobin’s second goal of the night with one minute left to play.
Cleveland’s Veini Vehvilainen made 13 saves in defeat while Utica’s Michael DiPietro stopped 27 pucks in victory.
The Monsters host a rematch on Saturday afternoon with a 1:00 p.m. puck drop against the Utica Comets at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Follow the games with full coverage on SportsTime Ohio, ALT 99.1, AHLTV and the Monsters Hockey Network.
Stay up to date on all Monsters news with the Monsters Mobile App presented by University Hospitals available to download at the Apple Store or Google Play Store. Be sure to follow the Monsters on Twitter @monstershockey, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/monstershockey, and on Instagram @monstershockey.
Scoring:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | SO | Final | |
| CLE | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| UTI | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | 3 |
Shots/Special Teams:
| Shots | PP | PK | PIM | |
| CLE | 27 | 0/3 | 3/4 | 22 min / 7 inf |
| UTI | 16 | 1/4 | 3/3 | 10 min / 5 inf |
Goaltenders:
| Goaltender | Outcome | Saves | GA | Record | |
| CLE | Vehvilainen | L | 13 | 3 | 9-12-1 |
| UTI | DiPietro | W | 27 | 0 | 14-7-1 |
Cleveland Record: 20-21-2-2, 7th North Division
Utica Record: 26-17-2-2, 3rd North Division
GAME SHEET – GAME PHOTOS – GAME HIGHLIGHTS*
*Game highlights will appear as soon as possible following video processing.