Monsters set for toughest test yet against league-leading Wolves
Young Players Having Success for Cleveland
Both of the Cleveland Monsters’ victories to this point have come against a Rockford IceHogs squad that’s sputtered out of the gates to the tune of a 1-7-1 mark, dead last in the AHL based on points percentage.
Still, that’s no reason to discount the early-season success of several young players, including Trey Fix-Wolansky (4-3-7, 6 GP), Carson Meyer (2-3-5, 3 GP) and Connor McDonald (0-2-2, 3 GP). Meyer and Fix-Wolansky could absolutely make their NHL debuts as early as this season depending on what happens with the big-league club, especially if they maintain their production over the coming weeks and Columbus continues to struggle.
“[A call-up] is the whole motivation this year,” Fix-Wolansky said. “I think everyone wants to play in the NHL, so I’m the same way. I’m taking this year to get better – every practice, every day, get stronger and become a more complete player so that whenever that call does come, I’m prepared.”
Other young Monsters seem to be figuring out the professional game on a game-by-game basis. Defenseman Wyatt Newpower, 23, has dished out three assists across his six appearances while Zach Jordan broke through for his first pro goal last Saturday night.
“They’re getting their feet wet professionally…[the game] is starting to slow down a little bit,” said Monsters Head Coach Mike Eaves. “You can see they’re seeing the ice and they have more time and space in their heads. You’ve got Zach Jordan getting his first goal and a lot of young guys contributing.”
SCOUTING THE WOLVES
The Monsters will be flip the script when they take on upper echelon of the league in this weekend’s two-game set against the 8-1-0 Chicago Wolves. The Wolves are far and away the best offensive squad in the league, scoring at an historic pace to the tune of 4.78 goals a night. For context, it’s been nearly 30 years since any AHL team averaged that many goals per game.
However, Cleveland may be catching Chicago at a bad time. The Wolves will be without Rem Pitlick, the AHL leader in goals (eight), and Seth Jarvis, the league’s top point-getter with a 7-4-11 line. Pitlick was promoted to the Nashville Predators while the 19-year-old Jarvis returned to juniors with the Portland Winterhawks (WHL).
Some Western Hockey League teams plan to begin play on March 18, so Jarvis’ return was mandated by the agreement between the NHL and the Central Hockey League which doesn’t allow players to join the AHL until they’re 20 years of age or have four years of junior experience.
Additionally, Chicago may be without Tanner Jeannot, a physical forward scoring at a point-per-game pace, depending on the logistics of his trek back to Illinois. Jeannot made his NHL debut with the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night but was reassigned to Chicago on Thursday. Altogether, Pitlick, Jarvis and Jeannot have produced 22 of Chicago’s 43 goals. Still, four remaining Wolves are scoring at a point-per-game pace, headlined by Tommy Novak’s 8-2-10 line across eight appearances.
The key to the Monsters’ success in Chicago will be taming the suddenly shorthanded Wolves’ attack. Goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks remains with Cleveland as Veini Vehvilainen continues to serve as backup to Columbus’ Joonas Korpisalo and Cam Johnson sits on the taxi squad. Kivlenieks looked sharp in his season debut against Rockford, stopping 27 of 30 shots in a 6-3 Monsters win.
Across the ice, 21-year-old netminder Beck Warm has had no trouble acclimating to the AHL, recording a 2.25/.940 slash line in four appearances. Jeremy Helvig (2.67/.915) and Antoine Bibeau (2.51/.914) have also played well manning the Wolves’ crease.
--- Jared Tennant for Ohio Hockey Digest
MONSTERS NOTES
- Three Monsters carry three-game point streaks into this weekend’s games: Tyler Sikura (2-3-5), Nathan Gerbe (1-4-5) and Evan Polei (1-2-3). Each streak began in a 7-3 win over Rockford on February 22.
- Cleveland’s second-ranked power play is off to a 7-for-20 start (35.0 percent), largely thanks to Fix-Wolansky’s four power-play tallies. Dillion Simpson and Gerbe have combined for seven assists on the man advantage.
- Carson Meyer leads all AHL rookies with a 1.67 points per game average. Meyer ranks in the middle of the pack in overall rookie scoring due to appearing in only three games thus far.
- Four of Cleveland’s final five games in March will take place at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, including a three-game set against the Texas Stars near the end of the month.
