Monsters Top Rockford IceHogs 4-3 in a Shootout

Provided by the Cleveland Monsters

The Cleveland Monsters defeated the Rockford IceHogs in a shootout at The Q on Wednesday by a final score of 4-3. With the win, the Monsters improved to 12-19-3-3 overall this season and with a .405 points percentage, remain alone in seventh place in the AHL’s Central Division standings.

Rockford claimed a 1-0 lead on Wednesday when Graham Knott posted an even-strength marker at 5:45 of the opening period, but the Monsters tied the game at 18:45 of the first when Zac Dalpe notched a five-on-five strike on feeds from Terry Broadhurst and Alex Broadhurst.

In the middle frame, Dalpe struck again on the power-play at 9:03 to make it 2-1 Cleveland thanks to helpers from Carter Camper and Paul Bittner, before an even-strength Brady Austin goal at 12:30 made it 3-1 courtesy of Ryan Collins’ and Calvin Thurkauf’s slick setup. The IceHogs clawed back within one late in the middle stanza, however, as Anthony Louis’ five-on-five finish at 18:08 of the frame made it 3-2 heading into the third.

Rockford’s Luke Johnson tied the game at three with an even-strength tally at 8:45 of the third to force overtime and eventually a shootout. In the shootout’s first round, Dalpe scored for Cleveland before Louis leveled things in the bottom of the second round for the IceHogs.

Cleveland’s Matiss Kivlenieks and Rockford’s Collin Delia both provided saves in the third round and, after Terry Broadhurst scored in the top of the fourth round and Kivlenieks denied Matheson Iacopelli in the bottom half, the Monsters emerged with a 4-3 win. Kivlenieks improved to 6-11-2 this season by virtue of a 35-save performance, while Delia fell to 4-4-1 despite stopping 29 of the 32 pucks he faced.

Next up for the Monsters, it’s a Friday rematch vs. the IceHogs with full coverage, live from The Q, underway at 7:00 pm.