The Cleveland Monsters beat the Charlotte Checkers (18-10-2-0) 6-3 on Saturday night at Rocket Arena. With the win, the Monsters are now 14-11-4-1 and are currently in fifth place in the AHL’s North Division standings.

Riley Bezeau opened the scoring with a goal at 16:22 of the first period with helpers from Hunter McKown and James Malatesta, but Charlotte’s Brian Pinho added a tally at 19:27 tying the game after 20 minutes. The back-and-forth continued into the middle frame starting with a marker from Tate Singleton at 5:59 assisted by Hudson Fasching followed by another Checkers’ goal from Pinho at 8:30 tying the game 2-2. Roman Ahcan added a tally at 13:38 off feeds from Jack Williams and Corson Ceulemans, but Charlotte responded with a goal from Nate Smith at 15:00. Luca Del Bel Belluz recorded a marker at 18:25 with helpers from Singleton and Ceulemans sending Cleveland to the final intermission leading 4-3. The Monsters put an end to the night in the third period starting when McKown picked up an unassisted shorthanded goal at 4:22 followed by an empty-net tally from Malatesta assisted by Williams and Del Bel Belluz bringing the final score to 6-3.

Cleveland’s Ivan Fedotov made 22 saves for the win while Charlotte’s Kirill Gerasimyuk made 31 saves in defeat. 

The Monsters welcome the Charlotte Checkers for a rematch on Monday, January 5, at 7:00 p.m. at Rocket Arena. Follow the game 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: 14-11-4-1, 5th North Division

Charlotte Record: 18-10-2-0, 3rd Atlantic Division

GAME SHEET – GAME PHOTOS – GAME HIGHLIGHTS*

*Game highlights will appear as soon as possible following video processing.