Flurry of Momentum Propels Monsters Over Griffins

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Monsters and Grand Rapids Griffins met for a mid-week romp at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Wednesday night. Both came into the game with a 5-5-0-0 record on the season. The Griffins were looking to avenge a 4-1 loss handed to them by the Rockford IceHogs on November 5. Meanwhile, the Monsters came into the game on the hunt to string together two consecutive wins. 

Things didn’t start on the high note the Monsters thought the game would. They were a little messy and slower than anticipated.

“I think we came out slow, too slow,” said Cleveland forward Tyler Angle. “Our goal was to come out there with a hard start.”

During the first intermission, Monsters head coach Trent Vogelhuber preached simplifying the game moving forward.

“Once we simplified a little bit, it alleviated some of the pressure and some plays opened up for us,” explained Vogelhuber. “We were able to get on the forecheck and had that little flurry of momentum there in the second.”

And a flurry of momentum they had. 

After defender Steven Kampfer gave the Griffins a 2-0 lead 3:38 into the second period, the Monsters said enough was enough. In the span of 4:50, Cleveland scored three goals to take the 3-2 lead over the Griffins. Two of those were back-to-back goals from Angle. Both were assisted by his linemate, Justin Richards.

“Richie is a really smart player. He’s in the right spots at the right time,” Angle said of his teammate. “He made two good plays to me and I was fortunate enough to put it into the back of the net.”

Even when they weren’t scoring, Angle and Richards worked a lot of magic throughout the night. They knew where each other were on the ice at all times and didn’t need to make sound or direct eye contact to communicate. Vogelhuber thinks they were able to create multiple beautiful plays was due to the fact they pair nicely together.

“Angler obviously had a super nice move on the one. He was finding space. Richie is a hard nose guy who gets in there and recovers pucks,” Vogelhuber praised. “It’s a nice combination.”

Most would think Angle’s two goals were what fired the Monsters up to finish strong. However, Angle himself thinks it was the goal from forward Carson Meyer which gave the team that extra fire.

“Carson was a big one. Eleven seconds after my second goal. Got us the lead and kind of got the boys fired up on the bench,” Angle said. 

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As the Monsters played more basic hockey, their sense of urgency began to rise.

“We started chipping pucks behind them, started playing a physical game, and started competing a little bit more,” explained Monsters forward Owen Sillinger. “We added a sense of urgency and it just built up and built up.”

Cleveland’s sense of urgency rolled into the third period. By the halfway point, Sillinger was lighting the lamp himself.