Monsters Look To Win Series Against Griffins, Advance To Western Conference Finals

The Lake Erie Monsters look to advance to the Western Conference Finals of the Calder Cup Playoffs. To do that, they must take care of the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday night. After losing Game 4 in Grand Rapids on Tuesday, the Monsters hold a 3-1 series lead over their Central Division rival. There’s a few things that need to go the Monsters way Saturday to get the series win and get one step closer to the Calder Cup, so let’s talk about the keys to victory below.

1. The Battle of the Second Period-This was something to watch out for at the beginning of this series. There has been eleven goals scored between the two teams in the Second Period, with Grand Rapids outscoring the Monsters 6-5. Not a large gap between the two teams, but this may be a battle of who wins the Second Period tonight. 
2. Josh Anderson-The Right Wing for the Monsters has been on a scoring barrage throughout the Playoffs. With five goals in the 2016 Calder Cup Playoffs so far, it looks like whenever Anderson is involved in the scoring, it’s a good night for the Monsters.
3. Goalie Battle-Joonas Korpisalo and Tom McCollum both had tough nights on Tuesday. McCollum gave up four goals before being relieved by Jared Coreau, who picked up the win after not allowing a goal in 26:29 of play. Joonas Korpisalo had a tough Third Period, as he allowed three goals. Korpisalo will be a huge factor going into Game 5. If he can shut down the Griffins offense, it could be a great night at the Q.

Those are the three keys to victory tonight. With nine more wins to go, the stakes are getting higher and higher. Time to Battle Together Cleveland.