Monsters Beat Down Toronto; Inching towards Clinching

The Cleveland Monsters are a pubic hair away from clinching the first PRO hockey playoff spot in a LONG, LONG time. ~ Rocco Trem, Dangeroushockey.com

I am aware that my giddiness about the clinching was erroneous; I didn't catch Abbotsford down there in the standings. It's only a matter of time. Don't fret.

The Lake Erie Monsters, very likely second-guessing their poise and talent level after 2 hard losses at home, dug inside and pulled out a good, clean 2-0 win over the struggling Toronto Marlies. This would mark the death call of the Marlies as they are nearly eliminated from the playoff push. Also, it would be the 5th win against the Marlies in a row.

Toronto? That's where we've been playing? I thought we were in Loserville! Thanks, Marlies!

Catching as much of the game as I could on the radio (And honestly paying more attention at first to the Gladiators); here's my take on the game.

-I don't know if it led to the PP goal, but Patrick Bordeleau was again getting under the Marlies' skin and drew a penalty. It's awesome to have a guy like that on our squad. I love it; he's on a roll of playing innocent when it counts.

-Jason Bacashihua. I mean, this guy is just a force right now. Tallying his 3rd shutout of the year, Cash made 21 saves and pulled out some amazing glove saves that put out the fire of the Marlies' momentum a multiple of times.

Jason Bacashihua, pictured above, was unable to be reached for comment after the game.

-Ben Walter again with the first goal for the good guys. He's really fulfilling that "C" on his chest. He's doing as much as he can to take the game into his hands and he was rewarded with the game winning PP goal last night. Which leads me to my last point...

-SPECIAL TEAMS Yes, 3rd time in a row I'm mentioning this; but this time it's a positive mention. The Monsters' PK was 4/4 on the night and their PP was 1/7. 1/7 isn't jaw-dropping but Toronto is the 1st ranked PK in the AHL.

With the win, the Monsters continue their road win streak and improve to a respectable 90 points on the season. Now, with a few more wins, the Monsters can clinch a playoff spot. I will keep you updated as necessary. (So will the Monsters' Twitter Account and Facebook Page.)

The Monsters meet the Marlies for the last time this year at home on the 6th. It's highly likely that this win will be the clincher! Go! Cheer! Boo! WHAT OFFICIAL!
HIT SOMEBODY!
~Brett