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AHL Cleveland Monsters

Monsters Fall in Grand Rapids 5-3

November 12, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Monsters News Release


Despite a comeback attempt that included three third period goals, the Lake Erie Monsters fell by a 5-3 score on the road to the Grand Rapids Griffins Wednesday night at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Troy Bourke and Sam Henley had a goal and an assist each for the Monsters, while Andrew Agozzino also added a goal. The Monsters are back on the ice Friday at 7:30 p.m. when they welcome the Adirondack Flames to Quicken Loans Arena for the first time.

Grand Rapids opened the scoring at 15:09 of the first period when Teemu Pulkkinen led a rush up the left side of the ice and centered a puck to the front of the net that was eventually banged in by Mitch Callahan. Pulkkinen extended Grand Rapids lead to 2-0 on a one-timer from the right circle at 18:09 of the first period.

In the second period, Grand Rapids benefitted from a pair of bounces to take a 4-0 lead. Following a Monsters turnover behind the net in the defensive end, Callahan played a puck to the goal crease that bounced off Monsters goalie Calvin Pickard and over the goal line at the 4:40 mark of the frame. Grand Rapids took a 4-0 lead at 7:37 of the second period when Ryan Sproul missed high on a slap shot, and the puck bounced off the glass behind the Monsters net, and off the back of Pickard, before eventually going into the Monsters net. After the fourth Griffins goal, Pickard was relieved in net by Roman Will.

Troy Bourke put the Monsters on the board at 3:16 of the third period when he won a battle for a loose puck at the side of the net, and muscled the puck over the goal line to cut the Monsters deficit to 4-1 with his first goal of the season. Sam Henley and Karl Stollery assisted on the goal. The Monsters comeback continued as Henley added a goal with 7:05 remaining in the third period on a picture-perfect setup from Bourke in front of the net to pull the Monsters to within a pair of goals. The goal was Henley's first as a professional, and was assisted by Bourke and Kenny Ryan.

With two minutes left, Andrew Agozzino netted his third goal of the season, following his own rebound to pull the Monsters to within a goal. Max Noreau assisted on the goal. The tally from Agozzino was his 40th as a Monster, making him just the fourth player in team history (David van der Gulik, Ryan Stoa, Mark Olver) to score 40 goals. Despite a late Monsters power play, Grand Rapids was able to hold off the Monsters attack for the final two minutes and with help from an Andreas Athanasiou empty-net goal with 9.8 seconds remaining, the Griffins handed the Monsters a 5-3 defeat.

Calvin Pickard took the loss in net; he is 3-4-2 for the Monsters after stopping nine of 13 shots. Roman Will stopped eight of eight shots in the final 31:14 of regulation. Petr Mrazek is 2-2-0 for Grand Rapids after the win; he turned away 25 of 28 Monsters shots.

The Monsters are back on the ice when they welcome the Adirondack Flames to The Q on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The game airs live on AM 1420 'The Answer'.

NOTES: The Monsters are 2-2-0-0 against Grand Rapids this season, and will meet the Griffins six more times in '14-15... Tomas Vincour made his season debut for the Monsters after being sidelined with a lower-body injury to start the season... Vincour last played for the Monsters over the last six games of the '12-13 season, and registered 11 points in those six games, including five multi-point games... Pickard made his seventh straight start in net for the Monsters; the longest streak of consecutive starts by a Monsters goalie is 12 games by Gerald Coleman during the '11-12 season... Follow the Monsters on Twitter @monstershockey, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lakeeriemonsters, and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/monstershockey.

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