Monsters take on the Checkers at Home
Dec 28, 2019In the fifth of eight meetings between the two teams this season, the Cleveland Monsters, affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, drop the puck vs. the Charlotte Checkers, AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, on Saturday 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 3-2 road win over the Rockford IceHogs on Saturday, the Cleveland Monsters enter tonight’s game at 14-13-1-2 on the season. With 31 points, the Monsters currently rank seventh in the AHL’s North Division standings and 13th in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is currently led in scoring by LW Nathan Gerbe (8-17-25), D Adam Clendening (5-13-18) and C Stefan Matteau (7-9-16).
CHECKERS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 4-2 home win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Sunday, the Charlotte Checkers enter tonight’s game at 14-13-3-0 on the season. With 31 points, the Checkers currently rank sixth in the AHL’s Atlantic Division standings and 12th in the Eastern Conference. Charlotte is currently led in scoring by D Jake Bean (5-16-21), LW Janne Kuokkanen (7-13-20) and RW Julien Gauthier (13-5-18).
REGULAR-SEASON SERIES: Saturday marks the fifth of eight meetings between the Monsters and Checkers this season and the third of four meetings between the two clubs at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse this year. Cleveland is 3-1-0-0 vs. Charlotte overall this season with a +4 goal differential (12/8) and the Monsters are 2-0-0-0 vs. the Checkers at home with a +5 goal differential (7/2) so far this season.
MONSTERS GOALTENDERS:
| 35 Veini Vehvilainen | OVERALL | 14 GP, (6-7-1), 2 SO, 2.08 GAA, .920 S% |
| LAST APP. |
(22/24) in 3-2 W at RFD 12/21/19 |
|
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | 1 GP, (1-0-0), 0 SO, 1.00 GAA, .957 S% | |
| AT HOME |
8 GP, (3-5-0), 2 SO, 2.15 GAA, .919 S% |
|
| 39 Brad Thiessen | OVERALL | N/A |
| LAST APP. | N/A | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | N/A | |
| ON THE ROAD | N/A | |
| 80 Matiss Kivlenieks | OVERALL | 14 GP, (7-5-2), 1 SO, 2.97 GAA, .893 S% |
| LAST APP. | (27/31) in 0-4 L at MIL 12/20/19 | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | 1 GP, (1-0-0), 0 SO, 1.00 GAA, .960 S% | |
| AT HOME | 9 GP, (3-4-2), 0 SO, 3.83 GAA, .871 S% |
CHECKERS GOALTENDERS:
| 30 Alex Nedeljkovic | OVERALL | 15 GP, (6-8-1), 2 SO, 2.63 GAA, .902 S% |
| LAST APP. |
(32/35) in 2-3 L vs LV 12/21/19 |
|
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | 2 GP, (1-0-1), 0 SO, 1.98 GAA, .927 S% | |
| ON THE ROAD | 7 GP, (2-4-1), 2 SO, 2.73 GAA, .901 S% | |
| 31 Anton Forsberg | OVERALL | 16 GP, (8-5-2), 0 SO, 2.92 GAA, .903 S% |
| LAST APP. | (26/28) in 4-2 W vs LV 12/22/19 | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | 2 GP, (0-2-0), 0 SO, 4.07 GAA, .869 S% | |
| ON THE ROAD |
8 GP, (4-2-1), 0 SO, 3.10 GAA, .900 S%
|
KEYS TO SUCCESS:
- NEXT MAN UP: In the last two weeks, Cleveland has endured the departure of the following five key players due to recalls by the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets: D Gabriel Carlsson, LW Nathan Gerbe, LW Jakob Lilja, C Ryan MacInnis and C Kevin Stenlund.
- STEADY CONTRIBUTORS: Two Monsters players are scoring at a point-per-game pace in their last several games, including Cleveland C Stefan Matteau (1-3-4 in last 4 GP) and D Adam Clendening (0-3-3 in last 3 GP).
- STOP STEVEN: The Monsters will need to neutralize Charlotte forward Steven Lorentz on Saturday. In four games versus Cleveland this season, Lorentz has four points (2G, 2A) to his credit this year.