Monsters battle but fall short in 3-2 loss to Rocket for Game 1
| Final | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
The Cleveland Monsters fell to the Laval Rocket 3-2 on Wednesday night at Rocket Arena. With the loss, the Monsters trail the North Division Semifinals best-of-five series 0-1.
Following a scoreless first period, Joseph LaBate tipped in a power-play goal at 12:07 of the middle frame with helpers from Luca Del Bel Belluz and Trey Fix-Wolansky putting the Monsters ahead. Laval’s Sean Farrell scored two goals at 16:09 and 19:24 on the man advantage, sending Cleveland to the final intermission trailing 2-1. The Rocket’s Owen Beck notched a tally at 5:11 of the third period, but the Monsters battled back with a power-play marker from Denton Mateychuk at 17:36 assisted by Fix-Wolansky and LaBate. Despite a strong final push, Cleveland fell with a final score of 3-2.
Cleveland’s Jet Greaves stopped 29 shots in defeat while Laval’s Jacob Fowler made 23 saves for the win.
The Monsters and Rocket meet for Game 2 of the North Division Semifinals on Friday, May 2, at 7:00 p.m. at Rocket Arena. Follow the games with full coverage on Rock Entertainment Sports Network, Cleveland’s 43, FOX Sports 1350 The Gambler, AHLTV on FloHockey, and the Monsters Hockey Network.
Shots/Special Teams:
| Shots | PP | PK | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLE | 25 | 2/5 | 3/4 | 8 min / 4 inf |
| LAV | 32 | 1/4 | 3/5 | 10 min / 5 inf |
Goaltenders:
| Goaltender | Outcome | Saves | GA | Playoff Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLE | Greaves | L | 29 | 3 | 2-1 |
| LAV | Fowler | W | 23 | 2 | 1-0 |
*Game highlights will appear as soon as possible following video processing.
Related Articles
MONSTERS FALL TO PENGUINS 3-2
February 27, 2026
MONSTERS COME BACK TO DEFEAT AMERICANS 4-2
February 25, 2026