Game Preview: Monsters vs Crunch 11/17

Nov 17, 2021

In the fourth of eight meetings between the two teams this season, the Cleveland Monsters, AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, drop the puck vs. the Syracuse Crunch, AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, on Wednesday with full coverage, live from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, underway at 7:00 pm on FOX Sports 1350 AM “The Gambler”, AHLTV and the Monsters Hockey Network.

 

MONSTERS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 0-4 road loss to the Rochester Americans on Saturday, the Cleveland Monsters enter tonight’s game at 5-3-1-3 on the season. With a .583 points percentage, the Monsters currently rank fourth in the North Division standings and sixth in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is currently led in scoring by LW Tyler Angle (0-10-10), D Jake Christiansen (3-6-9), and C Brendan Gaunce (4-3-7).

 

CRUNCH PRE-SCOUT: Following a 4-5 home shootout loss to the Hershey Bears on Saturday, the Syracuse Crunch enter tonight’s game at 5-5-1-1 on the season. With a .500 points percentage, the Crunch currently rank sixth in the North Division standings and 12th in the Eastern Conference. Syracuse is currently led in scoring by LW Charles Hudon (4-7-11), C Gabriel Dumont (6-4-10), and D Sean Day (2-8-10).

 

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES: Wednesday marks the fourth of eight meetings between the Monsters and Crunch this season (1-1-0-1) and the third of four games between the two clubs at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse this year (1-1-0-0). The Monsters have an overall goal differential of -2 (11/13) vs. Syracuse this season and a head-to-head home goal differential of -1 (9/10).

MONSTERS GOALTENDERS:

35 Jean-Francois Berube	OVERALL	6 GP, (3-1-2), 1 SO, 2.09 GAA, .933 S%
	LAST APP.	(21/25) in 0-4 L at ROC 11/13/21
	HEAD-TO-HEAD	1 GP, (1-0-0), 0 SO, 3.97 GAA, .871 S%
	AT HOME	2 GP, (1-0-1), 0 SO, 2.93 GAA, .906 S%
40 Daniil Tarasov	OVERALL	5 GP, (1-2-2), 0 SO, 3.74 GAA, .874 S%
	LAST APP.	(25/28) in 4-3 W at ROC 11/12/21
	HEAD-TO-HEAD	2 GP, (0-1-1), 0 SO, 3.45 GAA, .881 S%
	AT HOME	2 GP, (0-2-0), 0 SO, 5.13 GAA, .787 S%

CRUNCH GOALTENDERS:

31 Alex Dubeau	OVERALL	1 GP, (0-0-1), 0 SO, 5.61 GAA, .860 S%
	LAST APP.	(37/43) in 5-6 OTL at NFK 11/5/21
	(ORLANDO-ECHL)
35 Amir Miftakhov	OVERALL	6 GP, (3-2-1), 1 SO, 2.30 GAA, .920 S%
	LAST APP.	(31/35) in 4-5 SOL vs HER 11/13/21
	HEAD-TO-HEAD	--
	ON THE ROAD	3 GP, (2-1-0), 0 SO, 2.28 GAA, .915 S%
60 Hugo Alnefelt	OVERALL	6 GP, (2-3-1), 0 SO, 3.56 GAA, .864 S%
	LAST APP.	(21/27) in 3-6 L vs UTI 11/5/21
	HEAD-TO-HEAD	3 GP, (2-0-1), 0 SO, 3.00 GAA, .884 S%
	ON THE ROAD	3 GP, (1-1-1), 0 SO, 3.90 GAA, .839 S%

KEYS TO SUCCESS:

• ROOKIE SENSATION: Monsters LW Tyler Angle’s ten assists rank tied for sixth-most in the AHL this year, and among first-year skaters, Angle currently ranks among the league’s top ten in points (10, T8th), assists (10, T2nd), and shots on goal (12, T2nd).
• THE FIX IS IN: Following a lengthy recovery from knee surgery, Cleveland RW Trey Fix-Wolansky was cleared Monday to return to game action and subsequently assigned to the Monsters by the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. Last season, Fix-Wolansky posted 4-5-9 with two penalty minutes and a -6 rating in nine appearances for Cleveland. His last appearance came in a 5-2 home loss to the Grand Rapids Griffins on March 20th, 2021. In 52 career AHL appearances for the Monsters spanning two seasons from 2019-21, Fix-Wolansky tallied 16-19-35 with 34 penalty minutes and a -17 rating and added 1-1-2 with a -3 rating in three Calder Cup Playoff appearances for Cleveland in 2019.
• CRUNCH KILLERS: The Monsters’ roster currently features four players scoring at a point per game or better pace in multiple appearances vs. Syracuse this season, including LW Tyler Angle  (3 GP, 0-3-3), D Jake Christiansen (3 GP, 1-3-4), RW Carson Meyer (3 GP, 2-1-3), and C Justin Scott (3 GP, 2-1-3).