Monsters roll to big victory

Coach Mike Eaves spoke up at practice Feb. 10 and the Monsters listened.

The Monsters, after being shut out, 4-0, by Binghamton on Feb. 9, practiced a day later on what was supposed to be an offday heading into their game with Grand Rapids Feb. 11 at Rocket Mortgage FielldHouse.

They responded as though they never want to have an off-day taken away again by hammering the Griffins, 6-2.

“It was a good bounce back game. It’s what we needed,” Eaves said. “It came from the older guys leading the way. Adam Clendening was as efficient and effective as I’ve ever seen him play.

“It was about moving the puck quickly north and

MONSTERS 6, GRIFFINS 2

south. Everybody did that, but he particularly led the way.”

Clendening, a 27-year-old defenseman, was on the ice for all four Binghamton goals Feb. 9. He was on the ice for four of the Monsters goals Feb. 11 and assisted on three of them.

Gabriel Carlsson scored from the left circle 1:02 into the first period on a rebound off the right pad of Calvin Pickard — the Monsters’ primary goalie from 2012 to 2015 — and the rout was on.

Six Monsters scored a goal apiece in the first 30 minutes of the game. The six goals matches their highest output of the season. They crushed Belleville, 6-2, on the road on Dec. 6. But just to show how fickle a team can be, Belleville buried the Monsters one night later, 7-1.

Griffins coach Ben Simon yanked Pickard after Maxine Fortier made it 6-1 with his first goal of the season on a shot from outside the left post at 9:51 of the middle period. Pat Nagle stopped all 14 shots he faces from the Monsters after that, but by then the outcome had already been decided.

Stefan Matteau added a short-handed goal to Carlson’s first-period tally. Paul Bitttner, Jakob Lilja, Trey Fix-Wolansky and Fortnier each scored in the second period.

Brad Thiessen, making just his fifth start of the season, made 37 saves. He is an unofficial coach, always helping the younger goalies in practice.

“He is is such a good professional,” Eaves said. “To go from just practicing to games — how can he do it that well? Because of his experience and knowing what he needs, he gets his mind set right to that place.”

Eaves said the Feb. 10 practice was a light one. It was more about correcting mistakes than hard skating.

“It was about addressing the way we played and bringing attention to that,” Eaves said.

“Again, we have to give credit to the older guys guys in the room. We met and talked about it and they led the way. Playing the way we did tonight is the way we need to play to give ourselves a chance to get into the playoffs and do the things we want to do.”

The Monsters, are seventh in the AHL North with 50 points. They are three points behind Toronto in the chase for the fourth and final playoff spot in the division.

The Monsters aren’t home again until Feb. 28 when they host Belleville.