Monsters Head Back Home to Face the Penguins
Dec 12, 2019In the first of four meetings between the two teams this season, the Cleveland Monsters, affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, drop the puck vs. the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, on Friday with full coverage, live from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, underway at 7:00 pm on Alt 99.1, AHLTV and the Monsters Hockey Network.
MONSTERS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 2-3 road shootout loss to the Laval Rocket on Wednesday, the Cleveland Monsters enter tonight’s game at 12-11-1-2 on the season. With 27 points, the Monsters currently rank seventh in the AHL’s North Division standings and 12th in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is currently led in scoring by LW Nathan Gerbe (7-16-23), D Adam Clendening (5-10-15) and C Kevin Stenlund (5-10-15).
PENGUINS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 2-4 road loss to the Rochester Americans on Wednesday, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins enter tonight’s game at 13-9-3-1 on the season. With 30 points, the Penguins currently rank third in the AHL’s Atlantic Division standings and eighth in the Eastern Conference. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is currently led in scoring by LW Andrew Agozzino (11-13-24), RW Stefan Noesen (14-8-22) and LW Sam Miletic (6-13-19).
REGULAR-SEASON SERIES: Friday marks the first of four games between the Monsters and Penguins this season and the first of two games between the two clubs at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse this year.
MONSTERS GOALTENDERS:
| 35 Veini Vehvilainen | OVERALL | 12 GP, (5-6-1), 2 SO, 2.09 GAA, .920 S% |
| LAST APP. |
(28/30) in 2-3 SOL at LAV 12/10/19 |
|
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | N/A | |
| AT HOME | 7 GP, (3-4-0), 2 SO, 2.17 GAA, .917 S% | |
| 39 Brad Thiessen | OVERALL | N/A |
| LAST APP. | N/A | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | N/A | |
| AT HOME | N/A | |
| 80 Matiss Kivlenieks | OVERALL | 12 GP, (6-4-2), 0 SO, 3.13 GAA, .887 S% |
| LAST APP. | (25/32) in 1-7 L at BEL 12/7/19 | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | N/A | |
| AT HOME |
4 GP, (3-1-0), 0 SO, 1.75 GAA, .928 S% |
PENGUINS GOALTENDERS:
| 1 Casey DeSmith | OVERALL | 18 GP, (10-6-1), 2 SO, 2.58 GAA, .917 S% |
| LAST APP. | (26/29) in 2-4 L at ROC 12/11/19 | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | N/A | |
| ON THE ROAD | 10 GP, (4-5-1), 0 SO, 3.06 GAA, .899 S% | |
| 40 Dustin Tokarski | OVERALL | 4 GP, (2-1-1), 0 SO, 1.48 GAA, .942 S% |
| LAST APP. | (26/27) in 0-1 L vs CHA 11/23/19 | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | N/A | |
| ON THE ROAD | 2 GP, (1-0-1), 0 SO, 1.92 GAA, .911 S% | |
| 60 Emil Larmi | OVERALL | 5 GP, (1-2-2), 0 SO, 4.43 GAA, .861 S% |
| LAST APP. | (28/32) in 3-5 L vs TEX 12/7/19 | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | N/A | |
| ON THE ROAD | 1 GP, (1-0-1), 0 SO, 5.74 GAA, .769 S% |
KEYS TO SUCCESS:
- FAMILIAR FACE: The Penguins’ leading scorer, LW Andrew Agozzino (11-13-24), returns to Cleveland on Friday where he played for three seasons for the Lake Erie Monsters from 2012-15. Agozzino still ranks among the Monsters’ all-time franchise leaders in games played (225, third) and game-winning goals (8, T4th) and holds all-time Monsters franchise records for career goals (67, 1st), assists (98, 1st), points (165, 1st) and power-play goals (20, 1st).
- TOP TRIO: Cleveland’s top line of LW Nathan Gerbe, C Kevin Stenlund and LW Markus Hannikainen has contributed a combined 18 points (7G, 11A) in the team’s last five games, good for an average of 3.6 points per outing over that span. Stenlund is currently in the midst of a nine-game point streak (4-6-10), while Gerbe has points in six straight games (2-6-8) and Hannikainen is scoring at a point per-game pace in his last five appearances (3G, 2A).
- DESPERATE TEAMS: While the Penguins enter Friday’s game riding a four-game losing streak (0-3-1-0) and a three-game road losing streak (0-1-2-0), the Monsters have dropped five of their last six games (1-4-0-1) and are winless in two straight (0-1-0-1).