Monsters deliver 4-2 win to start season series with Comets

Photo via Cleveland Monsters

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Monsters beat the Utica Comets 4-2 on Saturday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in front of 10,180 fans. With the win, the Monsters are now 13-4-1-0 and are currently in first place in the AHL’s North Division standings.

Brendan Gaunce broke open the scoring at 3:19 of the first period off feeds from Trey Fix-Wolansky and Cole Clayton giving the Monsters an early lead. James Malatesta doubled the score at 17:06 assisted by Carson Meyer and Owen Sillinger sending Cleveland to the first intermission ahead 2-0. Utica’s Max Willman responded at 7:15 of the middle frame for the visitors, but Malatesta recorded his second tally of the night at 14:48 with helpers from Corson Ceulemans and Owen Sillinger bringing the score to 3-1 for the Monsters after 40 minutes. The Comets battled back with a marker from Joe Gambardella at 5:18, but Meyer pushed the game out of reach with an empty-net goal at 19:53 assisted by Jake Christiansen bringing the final score to 4-2.

Cleveland’s Daniil Tarasov had 22 stops for the win while Utica’s Isaac Poulter made 24 saves in defeat.

The Monsters host the Utica Comets for a rematch on Sunday, December 3, at 12:30 p.m. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Follow the games with full coverage on FOX Sports 1350 ‘The Gambler’, AHLTV and the Monsters Hockey Network.

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Scoring:

		1st		2nd		3rd		OT		SO		Final
CLE		2		1		1		–		–		4
UTC		0		1		1		–		–		2

 

Shots/Special Teams:

		Shots		PP		PK		PIM
CLE		28		0/5		4/4		10 min / 5 inf
UTC		24		0/4		5/5		12 min / 6 inf

 

Goaltenders:

		Goaltender		Outcome		Saves		GA		Record
CLE		Tarasov		W		22		2		1-0-0
UTC		Poulter		L		24		3		5-3-1

Cleveland Record: 13-4-1-0, 1st North Division

Utica Record: 6-8-3-0, 6th North Division

Official Cleveland Monsters Press Release