The Good and Bad of Cleveland’s Overtime Loss to Grand Rapids

CLEVELAND –  This past Thursday night, the Cleveland Monsters fell to their arch nemesis the Grand Rapids Griffins in overtime, 4-3. It was an even match between the two squads but the Griffins played a more consistent 60+ minutes. “We put in some good minutes. Just not a good enough 60 this time of year,” said Cleveland’s head coach Trent Vogelhuber on Thursday’s loss. 

The Good

Josh Dunne was driving the bus

Due to his hard style of play and success on special teams, forward Josh Dunne has been a massive asset for the Monsters this season. In post game, Vogelhuber couldn’t say enough nice things about him.

“Every team in our league would love to have Josh Dunne on theirs. He plays the right way. He’s hard to play against.”

On Thursday night, he was offensively sound, scoring at even strength and on the power play. On the defensive side, Dunne threw his body in front of a few slappers and laid some hard hits along the glass to force the Griffins to turnover the puck. Taking all of this into account, Vogelhuber considered Dunne “one of the drivers, if not THE driver, for us tonight”.

Marcus Bjork Goal

With 3:01 to play in Thursday’s game, Monsters defender Marcus Bjork was able to tie the game at three to push things to extra time. It was a much needed turn in momentum for Cleveland. Vogelhuber was quite impressed with the way his team handled being down with 5:30 left in the game and how they were able to tie the game last minute. 

“I love the fact you get scored on with five and a half minutes left in a big game. That’s pretty demoralizing, deflating. We buckled up on the bench. We said “plenty of time, let’s get to work” and they did. They attacked and stuck with it and got rewarded. Huge credit to our group to battle back and get that one point.”

A Look at Corson Ceulemans

Monsters and Columbus Blue Jackets fans had a chance to get a look at one of the Jackets prized defensive prospects, Corson Ceulemans, on Thursday. It wasn’t the strongest showing for the first time pro but there were good moments that highlighted what is to come for the young defender. “You can see the raw talent that is there. He defends decently like one-on-one with a good stick and he’s in a good body position,” said Vogelhuber on Ceulemans’ professional debut. 

Vogelhuber also explained that moving forward when Ceulemans enters the lineup next will not be based upon his prospect status but where he fits skill wise at the time. 

“At the end of the day the American League we’re here for a reason to make sure we can get players ready to play in the NHL . He’s an important part of the organization. He’s going to get the opportunity to play. We’ve had the discussion. After he’s gotten the opportunity, we’re playing the best players that we feel give us the best chance to win on any given night. So, he has to earn that . It doesn’t matter 1st rounder, 7th rounder, undrafted free agent. The games are too important and there is too much on the line. So you have to earn every chance you get.”

From Ceulemans perspective of the night, it felt good to get out on the ice and begin to get acclimated to the AHL’s style of play. “The first couple of shifts I was just kind of trying to adjust to the speed and strength. But as the game went on, I felt more comfortable,” said Ceulemans. 

He also feels like his ability to play two-way hockey will help the Monsters down the road as they make the push for playoffs. “I’m able to be a good defenseman. Block shots , get pucks out, make simple plays like that. I’m also able to ride that 2nd layer of offense. Jump up in the rush. Maybe create a scoring chance,” explained Ceulemans.

Around The AHL

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• Eagles Lose Game 5, Eliminated From Playoffs
• Expanded AHL Playoffs Don’t Quite Pay Off
• Firebirds Tie Series on True’s Shorthanded Stunner

The Bad

An ill-timed four-minute penalty

A little under halfway through the third period, Brenden Miller took two penalties to place the Monsters on a four-minute penalty kill. Even though the Monsters successfully killed off the penalty, Vogelhuber was less than pleased they put themselves in that situation to begin with. “They were looking for reasons to even it up,” said Vogelhuber. “We take a penalty and then we mouth off to them – undisciplined – and then we put ourselves in a tough spot. Just unacceptable.”

They ended up taking another penalty towards the end of the game. Which didn’t go over so well with the coach either. “You’ve got to keep your focus in those key moments of the game,” he explained. 

Overtime Breakdown

Griffins forward Dominik Shine scored 2:16 into extra time to give the Griffins a much-needed two points. Grand Rapids was able to get their final play going due to defender Jared McIsaac who hung back below the blue-line before sitting in the neutral zone and pointing things out to Shine and Jasper Weatherby. This allowed the Griffins to assess what kind of play the Monsters were going to roll out. 

Absolutely love the way Jared McIsaac sat back & then began to point things out to Dominik Shine & Jasper Weatherby.

Last season, Ben Simon said to be patient with him. A few weeks ago, he said McIsaac has more to show.

The growth has been fun to watch.#GoGRG #LGRW @fpc_ahl pic.twitter.com/UTOShkzKkF

— Elaine Shircliff (@imaraindancer) March 17, 2023

McIsaac forced David Jiricek to go toe-to-toe with him before pushing the play along the boards – an area where McIsaac shines. From there, Weatherby and McIsaac were able to set up a play which allowed Shine to finish the game.