The Cleveland Monsters beat the Grand Rapids Griffins 5-4 in overtime on Sunday evening at Rocket Arena. With the win, the Monsters are now 1-1-0-0 and are currently tied for second place in the AHL’s North Division standings.

Boston Buckberger scored his first professional goal on the power play at 13:05 of the opening frame with helpers from Oiva Keskinen and Steven Lorentz putting Cleveland ahead 1-0 after 20 minutes. The Griffins struck in the second period after Jacob Bryson converted on the power play at 1:58, but the Monsters offense exploded beginning with Charlie Elick’s first professional goal at 10:58 assisted by Adam Clendening and Luke Tuch. Tuch notched a tally of his own at 14:42 off feeds from Josh Eernisse and Max McCue. Eernisse also picked up his first professional marker unassisted at 18:55 sending Cleveland to the final intermission ahead 4-1. Grand Rapids’ Jesse Kiiskinen scored two goals in the third period at 9:39 and 16:36 on the power play, and Sheldon Dries followed with a marker on the man advantage at 19:52 to tie the game forcing extra time. Tate Singleton was the overtime hero scoring at 4:47 with helpers from Owen Sillinger and Corson Ceulemans securing the 5-4 win for the Monsters.

Cleveland’s Evan Gardner made 29 saves for the win while Grand Rapids’ Trey Augustine made 26 saves in defeat. 

The Monsters travel to visit the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday, October 10, at 7:05 p.m. at PPL Center. Follow the games with full coverage on SportsRadio 99.1 Powered by Rock Entertainment Group, AHLTV on FloHockey and the Monsters Hockey Network.

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Cleveland Record: 1-1-0-0

Grand Rapids Record: 1-1-0-0