The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)

After five-hour delay, Monsters win in OT

- By Jeff Schudel JSchudel@news-herald.com

Playing an outdoor hockey game seemed like a good idea when the Monsters announced the plan on Oct. 11, but even five months ago the date circled for the game seemed iffy because early March in Cleveland can be so unpredicta­ble.

Rain fell in buckets on March 3, so the temporary rink at FirstEnerg­y Stadium was covered with a tarp to protect it from the deluge.

As it turned out, rain wasn’t the problem. Sun was.

The March 4 faceoff between the Monsters and Wilkes-BarreScran­ton Penguins, scheduled for 1 p.m., had to be delayed until 6 p.m. because the bright sun above a cloudless sky made the ice unplayable.

In the end, the wait was worth it for those among the original crowd of 22,875 that returned to the stadium after being allowed to leave during the delay. The Monsters, after a sluggish start put them in a 2-0 hole 15 minutes into the game, won, 3-2, just 21 seconds into overtime on Markus

Bjork’s second goal of the game.

The win snapped a fourgame losing streak and left Coach Trent Vogelhuber and his players tired but satisfied.

“The first period wasn’t great, but I thought we responded really well in the second and third,” said Monsters center Josh Dunne, who assisted on Bjork’s game-winner. “We started to change our game and battled really hard. It shows a lot about our character coming back from 2-0 and giving ourselves a chance at the end of the game.”

Peter DiLiberato­re rifled a slap shot from above the left circle to beat Monsters goalie Jet Greaves to the glove side for the first Penguins goal 5:42 into the game. The Penguins made it 2-0 on a short-handed goal at 15:06 of the first.

The Monsters had only two shots on goal in the first 12 minutes of the second period, but they at least kept Wilkes-Barre from scoring again. And then the tide turned in Cleveland’s favor.

Carson Meyer controlled a loose puck along the right boards and passed it to Owen Sillinger. Sillinger sent it across to Justin Richards and Richards buried it for a power play goal with 32 seconds left in the second.

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