Monsters Battle the Rocket at Home
In the seventh 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 Laval Rocket, AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens, on Thursday 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 1-4 home loss to the Belleville Senators on Saturday, the Cleveland Monsters enter tonight’s game at 24-28-4-2 on the season. With 54 points, the Monsters currently rank eighth in the AHL’s North Division standings and 15th in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is currently led in scoring by D Adam Clendening (7-32-39), C Ryan MacInnis (7-23-30) and LW Stefan Matteau (12-16-28).
ROCKET PRE-SCOUT: Following a 5-2 road win over the Utica Comets on Saturday, the Laval Rocket enter today’s game at 27-24-5-3 on the season. With 62 points, the Rocket currently rank sixth in the AHL’s North Division standings and 12th in the Eastern Conference. Laval is currently led in scoring by C Jake Evans (14-24-38), C Charles Hudon (27-8-35) and RW Riley Barber (13-18-31).
REGULAR-SEASON SERIES: Thursday marks the seventh of eight meetings between the Monsters and Rocket this season and the third of four games between the two clubs at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse this year. Cleveland is 2-3-0-1 overall vs. Laval with a -3 goal differential (12/15) overall and 0-2-0-0 vs. the Rocket at home with a -5 goal differential (1/6).
MONSTERS GOALTENDERS:
| 35 Veini Vehvilainen | OVERALL | 31 GP, (10-16-4), 3 SO, 2.73 GAA, .902 S% |
| LAST APP. | (21/25) in 1-4 L vs BEL 2/29/20 | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | 3 GP, (1-1-1), 0 SO, 1.64 GAA, .943 S% | |
| AT HOME | 16 GP, (5-9-1), 3 SO, 2.50 GAA, .909 S% | |
| 39 Brad Thiessen | OVERALL | 7 GP, (3-3-0), 0 SO, 2.86 GAA, .894 S% |
| LAST APP. | (20/25) in 1-5 L vs BEL 2/28/20 | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | N/A | |
| AT HOME | 4 GP, (3-1-0), 0 SO, 3.25 GAA, .895 S% |
ROCKET GOALTENDERS:
| 31 Cayden Primeau | OVERALL | 31 GP, (15-11-3), 3 SO, 2.55 GAA, .905 S% |
| LAST APP. | (26/29) in 2-4 L at ROC 2/28/20 | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | 2 GP, (1-1-0), 0 SO, 1.51 GAA, .946 S% | |
| ON THE ROAD | 17 GP, (6-8-2), 1 SO, 2.91 GAA, .895 S% | |
| 40 Michael McNiven | OVERALL | 2 GP, (2-0-0), 0 SO, 2.98 GAA, .908 S% |
| LAST APP. | (28/30) in 5-2 W at UTI 2/29/20 | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | N/A | |
| ON THE ROAD | 1 GP, (1-0-0), 0 SO, 2.00 GAA, .933 S% |
KEYS TO SUCCESS:
- THE FIX IS IN: Monsters RW Trey Fix-Wolansky is scoring at a better than point per game pace in his last five appearances (2-4-6) and currently ranks among the AHL’s top ten among rookies in goals (4, T9th) and game-winning goals (3, T7th).
- KOLE’S CRUISING: Monsters RW Kole Sherwood is currently riding a two-game goal streak (2G).
- LEADING THE CHARGE: Monsters D Adam Clendening leads Cleveland in scoring this season and currently ranks in the AHL’s top-ten among blue-liners in points (39, T4th), assists (32, T4th), power-play assists (14, T6th) and shots on goal (134, T7th). Additionally, Clendening is scoring at a point per game pace in four appearances vs. Laval this season (1-3-4) and in his last three appearances (1-2-3).
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