Monsters Match up Against the Crunch in Syracuse

Feb 20, 2020

In the fourth 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 Syracuse Crunch, AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, on Friday with full coverage, live from Upstate Medical University Arena in Syracuse, NY, underway at 7:00 pm on Alt 99.1, AHLTV and the Monsters Hockey Network.

 

MONSTERS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 2-3 road overtime loss to the Chicago Wolves on Sunday, the Cleveland Monsters enter tonight’s game at 23-25-3-2 on the season. With 51 points, the Monsters currently rank eighth in the AHL’s North Division standings and 15th in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is currently led in scoring by D Adam Clendening (6-30-36), C Stefan Matteau (12-16-28) and LW Calvin Thurkauf (9-16-25).

 

CRUNCH PRE-SCOUT: Following a 2-5 road loss to the Belleville Senators on Monday, the Syracuse Crunch enter tonight’s game at 24-22-3-5 on the season. With 56 points, the Crunch currently rank sixth in the AHL’s North Division standings and 12th in the Eastern Conference. Syracuse is currently led in scoring by C Alex Barre-Boulet (20-26-46), RW Cory Conacher (14-23-37) and C Gemel Smith (20-16-36).

 

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES: Sunday marks the fourth of four meetings between the Monsters and Crunch this season and the second of two games between the two clubs at Upstate Medical University Arena this year. Cleveland is 0-3-0-0 vs. Syracuse overall this season with a -6 goal differential (6/12) and 0-1-0-0 vs. the Crunch on the road with a -2 goal differential (2/4).

 

MONSTERS GOALTENDERS:

35 Veini Vehvilainen	OVERALL	28 GP, (10-14-3), 3 SO, 2.55 GAA, .910 S%
	LAST APP.	(34/37) in 2-3 OTL at CHI 2/16/20
	HEAD-TO-HEAD	2 GP, (0-2-0), 0 SO, 4.54 GAA, .855 S%
	ON THE ROAD	13 GP, (5-6-2), 0 SO, 2.73 GAA, .906 S%
70 Joonas Korpisalo	OVERALL	32 GP, (17-10-4), 2 SO, 2.49 GAA, .913 S%
	LAST APP.	(28/30) in 2-3 SOL vs CHI 12/29/19
	HEAD-TO-HEAD	N/A
	ON THE ROAD	N/A

CRUNCH GOALTENDERS:

29 Scott Wedgewood	OVERALL	23 GP, (11-7-2), 1 SO, 3.00 GAA, .891 S%
	LAST APP.	(21/26) in 2-5 L at BEL 2/17/20
	HEAD-TO-HEAD	2 GP, (2-0-0), 0 SO, 1.50 GAA, .946 S%
	AT HOME	12 GP, (7-2-1), 0 SO, 2.99 GAA, .877 S%
30 Spencer Martin	OVERALL	28 GP, (8-11-4), 0 SO, 3.25 GAA, .889 S%
	LAST APP.	(35/38) in 3-4 SOL vs ROC 2/15/20
	HEAD-TO-HEAD	N/A
	AT HOME	15 GP, (4-5-3), 0 SO, 3.29 GAA, .884 S%

 

KEYS TO SUCCESS:

• CALVIN’S CONTRIBUTING: Monsters LW Calvin Thurkauf is scoring at a point per game pace in his past four outings (2-2-4).
• AWESOME ADAM: Monsters D Adam Clendening currently ranks in the AHL’s top ten among defensemen in points (36, 5th), assists (30, 4th), power-play assists (13, T6th) and shots on goal (117, 8th) and is scoring at a point per game pace in his last four outings (0-4-4).
• KORPI RETURNS: Cleveland will be buoyed in net on Friday by the return to the Monsters of 2020 NHL All-Star and Columbus Blue Jackets top net-minder Joonas Korpisalo, assigned for conditioning purposes to Cleveland on Wednesday. In 32 NHL appearances for Columbus this season prior to a lengthy injury absence, Korpisalo went 17-10-4 with two shutouts, a 2.49 GAA and a .913 S%. In parts of four AHL seasons from 2014-18 with the Monsters and Springfield Falcons, Korpisalo went 18-20-6 with two shutouts, a 2.51 GAA and a .911 S% and posted a record of 6-2 with a 2.96 GAA and .898 S% in nine appearances for the Monsters during the 2016 Calder Cup Playoffs, helping the team claim the Calder Cup as AHL Playoff Champions.