Monsters Face the Checkers in a Rematch at Home
In the sixth 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 Monday with full coverage, live from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, underway at 12:00 pm on Alt 99.1, AHLTV and the Monsters Hockey Network.
MONSTERS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 1-5 home loss to the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday, the Cleveland Monsters enter tonight’s game at 14-14-1-2 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 (5-14-19) and C Stefan Matteau (7-9-16).
CHECKERS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 5-1 road win over the Cleveland Monsters on Saturday, the Charlotte Checkers enter tonight’s game at 15-13-3-0 on the season. With 33 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 LW Janne Kuokkanen (7-14-21), D Jake Bean (5-16-21) and RW Julien Gauthier (14-5-19).
REGULAR-SEASON SERIES: Saturday marks the sixth of eight meetings between the Monsters and Checkers this season and the fourth of four meetings between the two clubs at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse this year. Cleveland is 3-2-0-0 vs. Charlotte overall this season with an even goal differential (13/13) and the Monsters are 2-1-0-0 vs. the Checkers at home with a +1 goal differential (8/7) 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 | |
| AT HOME | N/A |
CHECKERS GOALTENDERS:
| 1 Callum Booth | OVERALL | N/A |
| LAST APP. | N/A | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | N/A | |
| ON THE ROAD | N/A | |
| 30 Alex Nedeljkovic | OVERALL | 16 GP, (7-8-1), 2 SO, 2.52 GAA, .904 S% |
| LAST APP. | (18/19) in 5-1 W at CLE 12/28/19 | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | 3 GP, (2-0-1), 0 SO, 1.66 GAA, .932 S% | |
| ON THE ROAD | 8 GP, (3-4-1), 2 SO, 2.49 GAA, .906 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:
- NEW FACES: The Monsters inked a pair of ECHL forwards to pro tryout (PTO) contracts on Sunday, including RW Dan DeSalvo from the South Carolina Stingrays and RW Abbott Girduckis from the Toledo Walleye.
- PUCK MOVER: Cleveland D Adam Clendening has four points to his credit (4A) in his last four appearances and ranks among the AHL’s defensive leaders in points (19, T12th), goals (5, T6th) and power-play assists (9, T5th) this season.
- BAD BEHAVIOR: Monsters LW Marko Dano currently ranks in the AHL’s top-five in penalty minutes (61, 4th) so far this season.
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