CLEVELAND, Ohio — Staring down an end to their season and a sweep in the Eastern Conference Finals of the Calder Cup playoffs, the Monsters got back to basics while staying out of the penalty box to earn a hard-fought game four win over the Hershey Bears at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, 3-2, to close the gap in the series at 3-1.
The Monsters will have at least one more home game this season, with game five set for Saturday at 7 p.m.
Through three games this series the Monsters collected two overtime losses and a brutal loss in game three that put the team’s season in jeopardy. Monsters head coach Trent Vogelhuber had seen his team play on-brand hockey throughout the series, but still hadn’t collected a win against the defending Calder Cup champions.
Thursday night’s game came with a much different tone than in game three, a 6-2 loss, as the Monsters looked more in control with the puck while playing smart to avoid penalties.
“You go back through the first six penalties we had through the first two periods last game and three or four of them are unnecessary penalties, angry penalties, stick penalties,” Vogelhuber said. “To beat that team, you have to give yourself a chance in the special teams differential, which we hadn’t come close to through three games. Then you give yourself a chance to win the special teams battle.”
Vogelhuber put an emphasis on cleaning up the penalties, which resonated with the players, who committed just two on the night.
“It’s the most fun time of the year to play in the playoffs, the stakes are really high and a huge focus for us was discipline and staying out of the box,” Monsters forward Jake Gaudet said. “We need to control our emotions and I thought the crowd does a great job of that, it was really exciting to play and as a team we stayed tight and managed that well in the third.”
Gaudet scored what was eventually the game winner with 14:50 remaining in the third period. It gave the Monsters a 3-1 lead at the time.
“We got caught late in the (defensive) zone, we were out there for a long time, (we) blocked a shot, kinda got an odd-man rush then I think a guy fell in our zone,” Gaudet said. “Space opened up and we’ve been trying to make an emphasis on shooting the puck, so I let one go and it got in under the blocker.”
Gaudet’s goal set off an eruption that was short lived as 45 seconds later the Bears pulled back within a goal and forced the Monsters to batten down the hatches for the final 14 minutes.
“You know they’re going to push and throughout the playoffs when we’ve had leads I’ve really liked our demeanor and our steadiness with play,” Vogelhuber said. “I don’t know if it got a whole lot better, I think it’s due to season on the line and we’ve worked so hard, haven’t gotten rewarded in some tight games. So, you lose a touch of faith in what got you here, and that’s understandable, but I’m just glad that despite that we did get rewarded.”
A big help for the Monsters was a sharp Jet Greaves in net making numerous impressive saves that seemed to trickle in on Tuesday. Greaves was once again the man for the Monsters with 33 saves on the night, and taking another step up in the third period.
“Our team all year long, we’ve been in some really close games late in the third and I love our group that’s out there,” Gaudet said. “This whole series has been a bit frustrating because for a majority of this series we’ve played hockey that we’ve been proud of and we haven’t gotten the results we wanted.
“Tonight it felt like a couple goals went in, the tide shifted and we’re going to get ready for Saturday and prepare the same way.”
On top of the must-win matchup, the Monsters also welcomed a new player, 2022 top draft pick Denton Mateychuk. The 19-year-old from Winnipeg, who was the No. 12 overall selection, joined the team last week and suited up for the first time in Cleveland.
“After yesterday’s practice (coach) said do what you need to do to be ready for tomorrow night’s game and I did the right things and yeah, it felt pretty good tonight,” Mateychuk said. “It’s nuts out there, it’s great. I love when the crowd’s behind you like that. They’re passionate city and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
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