Monsters edge Wolves 7-6 in overtime

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - After jumping out to an early lead, the Monsters hung on to beat the Chicago Wolves in overtime, 7-6.

The Monsters came out firing in the opening period, with Owen Sillinger striking first just two minutes into the game off assists from Roman Ahcan and Luca Pinelli.

Corson Ceulemans quickly added another, assisted by Hudson Fasching and Jack Williams, extending the lead to 2-0 just 88 seconds later. Chicago got on the board through Evan Vierling at 4:59, but the Monsters answered back when Hunter McKown scored at 10:28 with assists from Max McCue and Caleb MacDonald.

Cleveland headed into the first intermission with a commanding 3-1 advantage.

The Monsters continued to control the game in the middle frame, building a commanding 6-2 lead heading into the final period. Mikael Pyyhtiä capitalized on a power-play opportunity just 2:14 into the second, with help from Pinelli and Luca Del Bel Belluz.

Justin Pearson extended the lead at 13:31, assisted by Del Bel Belluz and Pyyhtiä, pushing Cleveland’s advantage to 5-1. Chicago briefly cut into the deficit when Cal Foote scored at 17:14, but Owen Sillinger—posting two goals on the night—answered back at 18:47 with assists from Guillaume Richard and Pinelli to give Cleveland a comfortable 6-2 cushion heading into the third.

History unfortunately repeated itself in the third period. Much like the night prior, the Monsters gave up the lead in the third, allowing the Wolves to score four unanswered goals to force overtime.

Bradly Nadeau started the comeback at 4:15, followed by Justin Robidas’s power-play goal at 6:30. Josiah Slavin and Nadeau struck again at 17:43 and 18:19 respectively, knotting the game at 6-6 and sending the contest to the extra period.

The momentum seemed to be entirely with Chicago, but the Monsters had one more moment of magic in them.

Just 32 seconds into overtime, Jack Williams ended the suspense with the game-winning goal, assisted by Dysin Mayo and Pearson, securing the thrilling 7-6 victory.

Cleveland’s Ivan Fedotov turned aside 23 shots to secure the win, while Chicago’s Amir Miftakhov made 23 saves in a losing effort.

Cleveland’s record improves to 18-14-5-1, sixth place in the AHL’s North Division.

The Monsters will hit the road Saturday, January 24, to face the Rochester Americans with puck drop at 5:05 p.m. ET.