Monsters stumble in 3-2 loss to Comets
Dec 18, 2024The Cleveland Monsters fell to the Utica Comets 3-2 on Wednesday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. With the loss, the Monsters are now 16-7-1-2 and in first place in the AHL’s North Division standings.
Hunter McKown scored the lone goal of the opening frame at 13:49 off feeds from Trey Fix-Wolansky and Zach Sawchenko putting the Monsters ahead 1-0 heading into the first intermission. Utica’s Adam Beckman recorded a pair of goals in the second period at 1:07 and 6:17 swinging the score to 2-1 in favor of the visitors. Rocco Grimaldi notched a tally at 10:14 with helpers from Fix-Wolansky and Corson Ceulemans tying the game 2-2 going into the final intermission. Despite a third period battle, the Comets’ Mike Hardman scored a goal at 13:24 bringing the final score to 3-2.
Cleveland’s Sawchenko made 32 saves in defeat while Utica’s Isaac Poulter stopped 28 shots for the win.
The Monsters host a rematch against the Utica Comets with a 7:00 p.m. puck drop on Thursday, December 19, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Follow the games with full coverage on FOX Sports 1350 The Gambler, AHLTV on FloHockey and the Monsters Hockey Network.
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Scoring:
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
OT |
SO |
Final |
CLE |
1 |
1 |
0 |
- |
- |
2 |
UTC |
0 |
2 |
1 |
- |
- |
3 |
Shots/Special Teams:
|
Shots |
PP |
PK |
PIM |
CLE |
30 |
0/1 |
1/1 |
29 min / 6 inf |
UTC |
35 |
0/1 |
1/1 |
29 min / 6 inf |
Goaltenders:
|
Goaltender |
Outcome |
Saves |
GA |
Record |
CLE |
Sawchenko |
L |
32 |
3 |
7-3-1 |
UTC |
Poulter |
W |
28 |
2 |
3-4-2 |
Cleveland Record: 16-7-1-2, 1st North Division
Utica Record: 6-13-1-2, 7th North Division
GAME SHEET – GAME PHOTOS – GAME HIGHLIGHTS*
*Game highlights will appear as soon as possible following video processing.