Monsters fall short in 5-2 loss to Griffins
Mar 20, 2021The Cleveland Monsters fell to the Grand Rapids Griffins 5-2 on Saturday evening at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. With the loss, the Monsters are now 4-4-1-0 and are currently in fourth place in the AHL’s Central Division standings.
The Monsters scored first for the eighth time out of nine games played this season after Dillon Simpson notched the lone tally of the opening frame at 11:01 assisted by Nathan Gerbe and Trey Fix-Wolansky. Grand Rapids began the second period with a goal 51 seconds in from Givani Smith, but Wyatt Newpower regained the 2-1 lead for Cleveland with his first professional goal off feeds from Tyler Angle and Kole Sherwood. The Griffins brought a 3-2 lead into the final intermission after Smith scored his second goal of the night at 10:20 and Chase Pearson notched a tally at 15:27 to close out the middle frame. Grand Rapids secured the win after Pearson scored again at 5:23 and Riley Barber added an empty-net goal at 18:33 of the third period bringing the final score to 5-2.
Cleveland’s Brad Thiessen made 31 saves in defeat while Grand Rapids’ Pat Nagle stopped 24 shots in victory.
The Monsters begin a three-game homestand against the Texas Stars on Thursday, March 25, with a 7:00 p.m. puck drop at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Follow the games with full coverage on FOX Sports 1350AM ‘The Gambler’, 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 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
- |
- |
2 |
|
GR |
0 |
3 |
2 |
- |
- |
5 |
Shots/Special Teams:
|
|
Shots |
PP |
PK |
PIM |
|
CLE |
25 |
0/2 |
0/0 |
5 min / 1 inf |
|
GR |
33 |
0/0 |
2/2 |
9 min / 3 inf |
Goaltenders:
|
|
Goaltender |
Outcome |
Saves |
GA |
Record |
|
CLE |
Thiessen |
L |
31 |
4 |
1-3-1 |
|
GR |
Nagle |
W |
24 |
2 |
4-2-0 |
Cleveland Record: 4-4-1-0, 4th Central Division
Grand Rapids Record: 7-3-2-0, 2nd Central Division
GAME SHEET – GAME PHOTOS – GAME HIGHLIGHTS*
*Game highlights will appear as soon as possible following video processing.