Monsters trip Griffins

The Monsters this season battled COVID, callups, taxi squad moves by the Blue Jackets, some bad bounces off the boards, a goaltender shortage and other obstacles that toughened them as the season progressed.

That toughness showed May 14 in the final home game of the season when the Monsters knocked off their rival, the Grand Rapids Griffins, 6-4, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. When the final horn sounded, they skated to center ice, raised their sticks, and saluted the 4,148 fans that stayed around to the end.

It was a season of learning for a young team that

saw only a handful of players return from the 201920 team. The Monsters are 16-9-1-2 with a game in Grand Rapids on May 15 remaining to conclude the season.

Coach Mike Eaves in his post-game Zoom conference said Brett Gallant spoke to the team after the game and relayed what Gallant said.

“He just said it was really fun to come to the rink with this group of people,” Eaves said. “They worked hard. They worked hard for each other. Even though their time together was limited, they just seemed to click. It was fun to see them end on a good note at home.”

Both teams were sloppy defensively and in net in the first period. The score was 3-3 after 20 minutes, but after that Monsters goalie Daniil Tarasov settled in and allowed only one puck past him in the final 19 Griffins shots. Tarasov, perhaps the goalie of the future for the Columbus Blue Jackets, is 4-1 in net with the Monsters.

“The first period, there weren’t a lot of shots and all of a sudden there were six goals up there,” Eaves said. “You have to tip your hat to Tarasov. He didn’t get down. He stayed with it like a big-time athlete does. He let those goals go and came out and made some big saves. That in itself speaks to his mental strength as an athlete, in this case a goaltender.”

Gavin Bayreuther broke the 3-3 tie on a one-timer from the right circle on a power play 2:06 into the second period. The score remained 4-3 after 40 minutes.

Josh Dunne scored in traffic to open up a 5-3 lead 3:49 into the third period and then scored an unassisted empty net goal with 1:05 left after the Griffins cut the lead to 5-4.

Tristan Mullen scored his third goal of the season, Carson Meyer his ninth and Cliff Pu his third of the year in the Monsters’ three-goal first period.

The Monsters are second in the AHL Central Division. Normally, they would be gearing up for the playoffs, but there are no playoffs in the AHL this season because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.