Monsters avenge loss in home opener loss by beating Crunch, 4-2
Oct. 21—Josh Dunne cut to the chase quickly when asked about the Monsters getting hammered by the Syracuse Crunch, 5-0, in their home opener Oct. 20 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
"The nice part is we get these guys tomorrow," The Monsters center said. "Getting embarrassed a little bit like that on our home rink, we're all going to be fueled up for tomorrow and ready to go."
The Monsters used that fuel in the rematch Oct. 21 to send the Crunch back to Syracuse on the losing end of a 3-2 final score. This time the crowd of 8,716 stuck around to the end and was rewarded by a raised stick salute from the players gathered at center ice.
"We had a really good start," Coach Trent Vogelhuber said. "I thought we were all over them for the first 10 to 12 minutes.
"I thought our special teams were outstanding. They were a huge upgrade from last night. We adjusted our power play units around a little bit. I thought they were a lot better. Our penalty kill was sharp."
The #Monsters congratulate goalie Jet Greaves and then salute the fans in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse after beating the Syracuse Crunch, 4-2, Saturday night. @monstershockey pic.twitter.com/enz2X9EbcV
— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) October 22, 2023
The Monsters were 0-for-7 on the power play and allowed a shorthanded goal Oct. 20. The Crunch scored two of their five goals on the power play. The Monsters were 1-for-4 on the power play in the rematch and the Crunch was 0-for-5.
The Monsters killed off a 5-on-3 for more than a minute late in the first period to help make a winner of goalie Jet Greaves. Greaves was rock solid. He finished with 31 saves after being yanked midway through the second period Oct. 20 when he gave up for goals.
Special teams were indeed special for the #Monsters Saturday night in a 4-2 victory over the Syracuse Crunch, says Coach Trent Vogelhuber. @monstershockey pic.twitter.com/5urzwdTlkw
— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) October 22, 2023
"I think it's a big thing for myself and the whole group to be resilient, especially early in the year and kind of establish our identity of who we are as a team," Greaves said. "I was excited to get back in there right away and have that opportunity. I think myself and our whole team did a great job coming back tonight."
The Monsters took a 3-1 lead into the third period and saw their lead cut to one goal with more than 11 minutes to play when Crunch center Shawn Element tapped in a puck loose in the crease to the left of Greaves. Greaves made four more saves to finish the night.
Defenseman Nick Blangenburg got the Monsters on the board first with a power-play goal from the slot at 4:10 of the first period. The key to the goal was the tenacious way the Monsters were able to keep the puck in the attacking zone.
Hunter McKown scored in the first period, Stefan Matteau in the second and Owen Sillinger added a goal in the third period for the Monsters.
