CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cleveland Monsters found their groove back on their home ice and knocked off the Grand Rapids Griffins, 4-1, in an American Hockey League game Tuesday at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Monsters, who just completed a 1-6 road trip, are now 25-23-3-4, while Central Division leader Grand Rapids is 35-16-1-2. The Monsters are 4-5-0-1 against Grand Rapids this season with two games remaining.
- Game summary
- AHL standings
The Monsters came out aggressive, outshooting the Griffins in the first period, 24-5. Sonny Milano got Cleveland on the board with an unassisted goal at 15:13 of the first period, but Grand Rapids tied it at 7:10 of the second period on a goal by Martin Frk.
Joe Pendenza put the Monsters back on top just 25 seconds later, scoring off assists from Alex Petran and Dillon Heatherington.
Ryan Craig made it 3-1 with a goal at 8:28 of the third, then Pendenza potted his second, this time shorthanded, assisted by Dean Kukan.
Anton Forsberg stopped 20 of 21 shots to improve to 16-12-3. Griffins goalie Eddie Pasquale stopped 44 of 48 shots.
Roster addition: The Columbus Blue Jackets claimed forward Zac Dalpe off waivers from the Minnesota Wild and assigned him to the Monsters. Dalpe, 27, posted 1-2-3 with nine penalty minutes and an even rating in nine appearances for Minnesota this season and logged 2-0-2 in 12 games played this year for the AHL’s Iowa Wild. Dalpe skated at Ohio State and was an assistant captain in 2009-2010.
Up next: The Monsters head back out on the road for their next five games. They open the trip on Saturday against the Chicago Wolves, then play at the Milwaukee Admirals on March 8, return to Chicago on March 9, then play at the San Antonio Rampage on March 12 and 14. … The Monsters return to the Q to face the Texas Stars on March 17-18, the start of an eight-game homestand.
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