
Monsters Deliver 4-2 Win to Start Season Series with Comets
December 2, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Monsters News Release
CLEVELAND - The Cleveland Monsters beat the Utica Comets 4-2 on Saturday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in front of 10,180 fans. With the win, the Monsters are now 13-4-1-0 and are currently in first place in the AHL's North Division standings.
Brendan Gaunce broke open the scoring at 3:19 of the first period off feeds from Trey Fix-Wolansky and Cole Clayton giving the Monsters an early lead. James Malatesta doubled the score at 17:06 assisted by Carson Meyer and Owen Sillinger sending Cleveland to the first intermission ahead 2-0. Utica's Max Willman responded at 7:15 of the middle frame for the visitors, but Malatesta recorded his second tally of the night at 14:48 with helpers from Corson Ceulemans and Owen Sillinger bringing the score to 3-1 for the Monsters after 40 minutes. The Comets battled back with a marker from Joe Gambardella at 5:18, but Meyer pushed the game out of reach with an empty-net goal at 19:53 assisted by Jake Christiansen bringing the final score to 4-2.
Cleveland's Daniil Tarasov had 22 stops for the win while Utica's Isaac Poulter made 24 saves in defeat.
The Monsters host the Utica Comets for a rematch on Sunday, December 3, at 12:30 p.m. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Follow the games with full coverage on FOX Sports 1350 'The Gambler', AHLTV and the Monsters Hockey Network.
Stay up to date on all Monsters news with the Monsters Mobile App presented by University Hospitals available to download at the Apple Store or Google Play Store. Be sure to follow the Monsters on X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
Scoring:
1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Final
CLE 2 1 1 - - 4
UTC 0 1 1 - - 2
Shots/Special Teams:
Shots PP PK PIM
CLE 28 0/5 4/4 10 min / 5 inf
UTC 24 0/4 5/5 12 min / 6 inf
Goaltenders:
Goaltender Outcome Saves GA Record
CLE Tarasov W 22 2 1-0-0
UTC Poulter L 24 3 5-3-1
Cleveland Record: 13-4-1-0, 1st North Division
Utica Record: 6-8-3-0, 6th North Division
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