June 8th, 2024
Cleveland, Ohio
Tuesday night after the Monsters lost and faced a 3-0 series deficit to the defending champion Hershey Bears, it seemed hope was all but lost. Well, maybe not to the players on the roster. Trailing the Bears in a best of seven series 3-1, the Monsters would deliver a spectacular encore performance by winning their second game in a row and taking game five of the Eastern Conference Finals of the Calder Cup playoffs.
After giving up an opening period goal to the Bears, the resilience and the grit of this team would come through. At the start of the second period the Monsters started to attack the Bears defense and would quickly wear them down in the process. After being on the shelf with an injury for 2 months, Captain Brendan Gaunce would score two of the four goals for the Monsters in the 2nd period. “You really don’t think about it that much, you just want to help the team win, obviously being out for that amount of time you come out cold but I was really excited to help the team win tonight.” Spoken like a true teammate and captain.
Gaunce wasn’t the only Monster player that would score two goals Saturday. Josh Dunne would add his sixth and seventh goals of the postseason. Alex Whelan also lead the scoring off with his 5th goal of the playoffs.
What an incredible turnaround for this team after the disheartening performance Tuesday night. In front of 13,000+ loyal fans on Saturday, the Monsters would match the physicality of Hershey and beat them at their own game of speed and execution offensively. Head coach Trent Vogelhuber seemed to be pleased with the teams transformation from the first three games and the ability the finish. “I think their (Hershey) pace is higher than the previous rounds we’ve played, their style is different and you have to acclimate to that and I think it just took us a little longer to get there. Our team plays so heavy, I think we’ve started to see some of those investments early on in the series come around for us. Just making them defend, a team that’s usually doesn’t defend very often, taking them out of their rhythm.”
While the offense was explosive at Rocket Mortage Fieldhouse, the defense was just as impressive. Only giving up the first goal early on in the opening period, Jet Greaves delivered another solid performance in the net. Thirty three saves including a jaw dropping save at the end of the game where he used his entire body to cover the net, extending his leg to the far side of the net, denying the Bears of a desperation back door goal attempt. After shaking off that tough five goal game Tuesday, Jet reflected on what has changed in this series and how they won’t let the pressure of elimination get to them, “I think you can enjoy it, pressure can burst a pipe, pressure can make diamonds, so I think it’s just understanding how that can affect you, so it’s important for us to look at it with a positive experience and just enjoy each opportunity.”
The Monsters now face a 3-2 series deficit and hit the road to Hershey where they had lost the last two games in overtime. The physical play of the Cleveland Monsters will make them a tough out and keep the belief strong that they can force a game seven. Game six will be Monday in Hershey at 7pm.
Nick Michaels
VSBN Radio
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