Monsters take down Americans in 6-5 overtime thriller
Jan 6, 2024The Cleveland Monsters defeated the Rochester Americans 6-5 on Saturday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. With the win, the Monsters are now 23-9-1-0 and are currently in first place in the AHL’s North Division standings.
Rochester’s Zach Metsa started the scoring at 7:58 of the first period but the Monsters responded with an Alex Whelan tally at 10:27 with assists from Jake Gaudet and Justin Pearson. The Monsters added two goals late in the first period with an even strength marker from Jake Christiansen off feeds from Carson Meyer and Owen Sillinger, and from Justin Pearson at 19:46 with the assist credited to Stanislav Svozil, giving Cleveland a 3-1 lead after twenty minutes. Rochester cut the Cleveland lead in half at 4:37 in the middle frame with a Brandon Biro goal, but Cleveland restored its two-goal advantage with a power play goal by Trey Fix-Wolansky from Marcus Bjork and Sillinger at 8:29. Rochester’s Zach Metsa recorded his second of the night at 13:04, before Jake Gaudet returned the favor at 14:09 off a Pearson assist. The Americans continued the seasaw affair with a Jeremy Davies tally at 16:29 to make it 5-4 Monsters heading into the final period. Rochester’s Isak Rosen got one by new Monsters goaltender Jet Greaves at 4:15 of the third to tie the game at 5 and cap the regulation scoring. Trey Fix-Wolansky scored the game-winner with a helper from Christiansen at 3:22 in the extra frame giving Cleveland a 6-5 victory.
Cleveland’s Pavel Cajan made 18 saves over two periods while Jet Greaves made 11 saves in relief to earn the win. Rochester’s Dustin Tokarski stopped 34 shots in defeat.
The Monsters hit the road to take on the Utica Comets on Friday, January 12, at 7:00 p.m. at the Adirondack Bank Center. Follow the games with full coverage on FOX Sports 1350 ‘The Gambler’, AHLTV and the Monsters Hockey Network.
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Scoring:
|
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
OT |
SO |
Final |
|
ROC |
1 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
- |
5 |
|
CLE |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
- |
6 |
Shots/Special Teams:
|
|
Shots |
PP |
PK |
PIM |
|
ROC |
34 |
1/3 |
4/5 |
15 min / 6 inf |
|
CLE |
40 |
1/5 |
2/3 |
11 min / 4 inf |
Goaltenders:
|
|
Goaltender |
Outcome |
Saves |
GA |
Record |
|
ROC |
Tokarski |
L |
34 |
6 |
6-6-2 |
|
CLE |
Cajan |
- |
18 |
4 |
4-4-1 |
|
CLE |
Greaves |
W |
11 |
1 |
17-4-0 |
Cleveland Record: 23-9-1-0, 1st North Division
Rochester Record: 15-12-3-1, 4th North Division
GAME SHEET – GAME PHOTOS – GAME HIGHLIGHTS*-
*Game highlights will appear as soon as possible following video processing.