For the third straight season, playoff hockey has come to Cleveland, with the AHL affiliate of the Blue Jackets battling for the Calder Cup.
The Monsters finished third in the AHL North Division and earned a first-round bye in the postseason before drawing second-place Syracuse in a best-of-five series in the division semifinals. The Monsters finished off the series in four games to advance to the division final, where they are playing fourth-seeded Toronto.
Cleveland is no stranger to playoff hockey under head coach Trent Vogelhuber, winning a first-round series last year and advancing all the way to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final two seasons ago. The Monsters also captured the Calder Cup back in 2016.
READ MORE: Guillaume Richard feature | Corson Ceulemans feature | Monsters kick off playoff run | CBJ Prospects page
Stay tuned for updates from Cleveland's postseason run. The North Division Final will be against Toronto, which upset division champ Laval by a 3-2 margin in the other semifinal. The Monsters and Marlies split the eight-game season series with four wins apiece.
AHL North Division Final vs. Toronto
Schedule
Game 1: Toronto 5, Cleveland 2
Game 2: Cleveland 3, Toronto 1
Game 3: Cleveland 4, Toronto 0
Game 4: May 22, 7 p.m. at Toronto
Game 5: May 24, 3 p.m., Rocket Arena
Recaps
Game 3: Cleveland 4, Toronto 0
Cleveland traveled north of the border and found the ketchup chips and Tim Hortons to its liking, dominating a shutout victory Wednesday to take a 2-1 series lead and move one win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference final.
The Monsters outshot the Marlies in all three periods, holding a 30-16 advantage for the game, and earned their first shutout of the playoffs. Zach Sawchenko stopped all 16 shots he faced, Owen Sillinger and Hudson Fasching each had a goal and assist, and Justin Pearson and Mikael Pyyhtiä added empty-net goals.
Cleveland was on the front foot from the beginning, outshooting Toronto by a 15-6 margin in the first, and led 2-0 after 20 minutes as Sillinger scored just 4:57 in and Fasching doubled the advantage with 2:40 left. Sillinger converted a feed from Luca Del Bel Belluz in front to put Cleveland on the board, while Fasching's third playoff goal came on the power play off a nice passing play from Silinger and Stanislav Svozil.
The Monsters' defensive effort led the way the rest of the game before Pearson and Pyyhtiä finished things off.
Cleveland is now 3-0 on the road in the postseason and can end the series in Friday's Game 4 in Toronto.
Game 2: Cleveland 3, Toronto 1
A boisterous crowd of 14,196 filled Rocket Arena and saw what they wanted to see Saturday night, as Cleveland never trailed on the way to a 3-1 victory that evened the series 1-1.
Roman Ahcan scored 5:54 into the game and Mikael Pyyhtiä doubled Cleveland's lead later in the frame, then Luca Pinelli added an insurance marker in the third after the Marlies got on the board in the second.
Ahcan converted early on a 2-on-1 with Zach Aston-Reese, while Pyyhtiä tipped Luca Del Bel Belluz's shot home to double the lead. Pinelli then finished things off moments after a Cleveland power play ended with a wrister from the left circle.
Will Butcher had a pair of assists for the Monsters while Zach Sawchenko saved 17 of 18 shots as the Monsters put on a solid defensive clinic.
Game 1: Toronto 5, Cleveland 2
A fast start couldn't push the Monsters to a series-opening win, as Toronto erased Cleveland's 2-0 lead by scoring five unanswered goals in Rocket Arena.
Hudson Fasching scored on the power play just 4:56 into Game 1 and Hunter McKown doubled the Monsters' lead early in the second, but the Marlies rallied from there to take the opening game of the series.
Easton Cowan and Marshall Rifai scored in the final minutes of the second to tie the score, and Toronto pulled away in the third. Former CBJ forward Alex Nylander broke the 2-all tie 2:15 into the final frame, then Ryan Tverberg and Benoit-Olivier Groulx added insurance markers as the Marlies pulled away.
Cleveland outshot the visitors 34-16 but Artur Akhtyamov stopped 32 shots to get the win for the Marlies.
AHL North Division Semifinal vs. Syracuse (CLE wins 3-1)
Schedule
Game 1 (April 24): Cleveland 3, Syracuse 2
Game 2 (April 26): Syracuse 4, Cleveland 1
Game 3 (May 1): Cleveland 4, Syracuse 3 (OT)
Game 4 (May 3): Cleveland 2, Syracuse 1 (3OT)
Recaps
Game 4: Cleveland 2, Syracuse 1 (3OT)
In an epic game that lasted more than four and a half hours, Zach Aston-Reese scored 7:54 into the third overtime May 3 to close out the Crunch and send the Monsters to the next round. It marks the second time in three seasons Cleveland advances to the final eight of the AHL playoffs.
Aston-Reese's goal came off assists from Brendan Gaunce and Luca Marrelli, as the veteran forward who spent much of the season with the Blue Jackets finished off the series with his first playoff tally of the year.
As it did in Friday's Game 3, Syracuse got on the board in the opening period when Matteo Pietroniro scored 6:21 into the game. But that was the only one of Syracuse's 47 shots to beat Zach Sawchenko, who improved to 3-0 in the series while allowing just six goals.
Cleveland responded in the second period with 5:45 to go when Luca Marrelli scored his first pro playoff goal, as the rookie defenseman and third-round pick fired through a screen past Brandon Halverson.
The teams then played more than 70 minutes of scoreless hockey, but it wasn't for a lack of trying at times for the Monsters, who put 21 shots on goal in the first OT and 58 in the game against Halverson.
Finally, Aston-Reese tallied the winner to end the longest postseason game in franchise history. Marrelli got the puck behind the defense, where Gaunce tracked it down in the right corner, advanced toward the net and passed across the crease for Aston-Reese to slam home to complete the 2-on-0.
Luca Del Bel Belluz finished the four-game series leading the team with four points (all assists) while Mikael Pyyhtiä (1-2-3) and Jack Williams (0-3-3) followed.
Game 3: Cleveland 4, Syracuse 3 (OT)
It took a gritty effort, a comeback and a goal that was fitting for this time of year for the Monsters to take a 2-1 series lead May 1 in Upstate Medical University Arena.
Hudson Fasching's overtime winner was the difference as Cleveland took the 4-3 win over the Crunch and grabbed the series lead in a tightly contested playoff battle.
Fasching played the hero 10:05 into the extra frame with a fantastic individual effort, as the veteran of 175 NHL games took a pass from Jack Williams, sped into the zone and followed his own rebound, wrapping it around the net and banking it in past goalie Brandon Halverson.
Cleveland can now finish off the series in Sunday's Game 4 at 3 p.m., and it took a team effort to down Syracuse in front of more than 6,000 fans.
Defenseman Guillaume Richard scored two goals, while Riley Bezeau tallied and goalie Zach Sawchenko stopped 31 of 34 shots against.
Syracuse led 1-0 after the first period, but Cleveland battled back in the second and took a 2-1 lead. Bezeau scored just eight seconds into the middle frame, as Halverson fell down trying to track a dump into the zone and the Cleveland forward was on the spot to center it off a stick and into the net.
Richard's first goal, a shot from the left circle off a fantastic across-the-zone feed from Mikael Pyyhtiä, gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead in the second, but Syracuse answered later in the frame and then took a 3-2 lead early in the third. But Richard was again able to beat Halverson with 10:56 to go, jumping up from the blue line and finding Dysin Mayo's blocked shot before firing past the Syracuse netminder.
Mayo and Luca Del Bel Belluz each had a pair of assists in the victory, while the Monsters' penalty kill stopped all five power-play chances for the Crunch.
Game 2: Syracuse 4, Cleveland 1
The visitors came roaring back to tie the series at 1-1, as the Crunch scored four times in the first period April 26 and then finished off the victory over the Monsters.
Cleveland made a goaltending switch for Game 2, going with Ivan Fedotov in net, but Syracuse greeted him rudely with four tallies in the opening 13:15, with goals coming from Lucas Mercuri, Gabriel Szturc, Jakob Pelletier and Tommy Miller. The AHL's leading scorer, Pelletier finished with a goal and two assists in the opening frame.
The Monsters turned to backup goalie Evan Gardner for the final two periods and change, and the 2024 second-round draft pick making his pro postseason debut and second all-time appearance at the AHL level stopped all 10 shots he faced in more than 46 minutes of action.
Cleveland had a 24-8 edge in shots on goal over the last 40 minutes but only got on the board in the third period with Mikael Pyyhtiä's goal past Brandon Halverson, who stopped 32 shots overall.
The series now shifts to Syracuse for the final three games, with the games resuming Friday.
Game 1: Cleveland 3, Syracuse 2
In the end, the best and worst thing that might have happened to the Monsters on April 24 was taking a 3-0 lead through the opening period of play.
Those three goals were enough for Cleveland to take a 1-0 series lead in front of 10,110 home fans in Rocket Arena, but it also made for a nervy finish as Syracuse pushed throughout the final two periods, outshooting the Monsters by a 28-9 margin in the final 40 minutes.
But the first-period goals from Justin Pearson, Will Butcher and Corson Ceulemans were enough as Cleveland began its postseason with a victory. Zach Sawchenko earned first star honors, as the goalie stopped 29 of 31 shots against and held the fort down the stretch.
The opening 20 minutes were all Monsters, as Pearson got the scoring started just 4:35 into the game. Crunch goalie Jon Gillies misplayed a puck behind the net and Hudson Fasching found the fourth-year Monster in front to put Cleveland ahead.
Then, the Monsters got a pair of goals just 3:54 apart to take a commanding lead. Butcher scored from the top of the left circle on the rush with 5:34 to go in the first to make it 2-0, then Luca Del Bel Belluz found Ceulemans open back door for the first-rounder to finish and make it 3-0.
Syracuse cut the lead to 3-1 when Cleveland-area native Dylan Duke scored on a breakaway early in the second, and Mitchell Chaffee's rebound goal 4:02 into the third made it 3-2. But Sawchenko stood tall the rest of the way and got some help from Ceulemans, who cleared a puck off the line midway through the third.
