Monsters Defeat San Jose 4-1 In First-Ever Meeting

CLEVELAND, Ohio- The Cleveland Monsters returned home for their second home game of the 2017-18 campaign following a split with the Manitoba Moose on the road. The Monsters would have a completely unfamiliar opponent to go up against in the San Jose Barracuda, who the Monsters would match up against for the first time in Cleveland’s history. It will become more common throughout the year to see the team match up against teams out West, as the AHL has pitted them against numerous Pacific Division teams.

The game started off strong for the Monsters, as Ohio native Carter Camper struck for a goal just thirty-five seconds into the game. Camper was set up by Markus Hannikainen, who dished it ahead to Camper for the breakaway look. Tyler Motte was also credited with the assist.

#CLEMonsters strike first 35 seconds in off of the Carter Camper top-shelf marker. 1-0 early in this one.@NEOSportsInside pic.twitter.com/4u4edFqjvu

— Eli Mooneyham (@Eli_Mooneyham) October 21, 2017

The Monsters were able to feed off of that and find plenty of chances against Troy Grosenick. Cleveland would finish with seven first period shots on goal, making sure Grosenick was feeling their pressure for the entire twenty minutes of play.

The second period was all Cleveland, who put up six shots in the frame and found the back of the net again, courtesy of John Ramage. Ramage skated through the slot with ease, looked off Camper to his right, and fired it home for the marker at the 12:56 mark to guide Cleveland into the final twenty minutes with a good lead at hand.

John Ramage looks off Camper and fires from the slot to make it 2-0 #CLEMonsters over #SJBarracuda in the 2nd.@NEOSportsInside pic.twitter.com/4gploMRKOa

— Eli Mooneyham (@Eli_Mooneyham) October 21, 2017

The third period saw the first signs of life from San Jose, as Brandon Bollig put in the puck at the 1:57 mark to finally put a crack into the “Brick Wall” of Brad Thiessen. The Monsters would finish off the Barracuda rally quickly, as Miles Koules saw Grosenik out of his cage searching for the puck and corralled it fast enough to sneak it in for the goal.

Miles Koules makes it 3-1 #CLEMonsters over #SJBarracuda in the 3rd.@NEOSportsInside pic.twitter.com/yOtCIjOWYt

— Eli Mooneyham (@Eli_Mooneyham) October 21, 2017

 

Tyler Motte would pot the empty-net goal to seal the deal on the game, giving the Monsters the 4-1 victory.

Following the game, Head Coach John Madden was happy with his team’s performance. “I was extremely proud of a lot of the guys there was no passengers tonight, every man competed.”

And as for playing a fresh face in San Jose.

“I like it. I like playing other teams. It just makes it more fun for everyone.”

Tyler Motte, who finished with three points on the day, talked about his adjustment to Cleveland following the trade with the Chicago Blackhawks this off-season.

“It’s a great room to be a part of. We got some guys that’ve played plenty of years of pro hockey and we got some new faces and I’m part of that group. So it’s good to have the range of experience levels and energy. I think that’s gonna be a key for us is everyone bring every night what they bring and don’t shy away from that. So we stick to ourselves man-to-man and we’ll continue to have some success here.”

The Monsters play the Barracuda at 5pm tomorrow afternoon at The Q.