Alan Kornspan
Believeland Media
(Alan Kornspan/Believeland Media)
The Cleveland Monsters hosted the Belleville Senators at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Wednesday night in the North Division Semifinals of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
The Monsters got out to an early 2-1 lead after one period of play.
Dave Jiricek gave the Monsters a 2-0 lead in their Wednesday night 2 OT playoff victory over the Senators
(Alan Kornspan/Believeland Media)
After a scoreless second period, the Senators sent the game to overtime after scoring a third period goal.
In the second overtime, Owen Sillinger gave the Monsters a 3-2 playoff victory as he netted the game winning goal, 4:41 into the period.
Owen Sillinger had the game winning goal in the second overtime to give the Monsters a 3-2 victory over the Senators
(Alan Kornspan/Believeland Media)
In the post-game press conference Sillinger described his game winning goal.
“I had the puck on the wall, made a good play, (and) shot it,” said Sillinger.
Sillinger said that the puck then was deflected by the defenseman and that he was able to regain possession of the puck and shoot it into the net for the victory.
Sillinger also said that mentally the Monsters have been able to stay calm, cool and collected throughout this pressure-filled playoff series.
We're definitely resilient,” said Sillinger.
“We're not panicking in situations. I think we're comfortable in any situation, especially in overtime games. I think that's a sign of a great team.”
Monsters Head Coach Trent Vogelhuber also discussed the resiliency that the Monsters showed in their ability to stay calm and focused under intense pressure, especially when they had some penalties called against them.
"You know you can't be upset about the call," said Vogelhuber.
"It's on to the next shift. And you manage your emotion and it's on to the next shift and you got to go do it, and you got to do your job. It's just the way it is."
Vogelhuber said that when you are able to have successful penalty kills under very high pressure situations, it builds confidence that the team can do it again the next time.
The Monsters demonstrated their mental toughness and resiliency throughout the game as they had to handle the pressure of an extremely close contest.
In fact, the game was close throughought as the Monsters led 2-1 after the first period.
Mikael Pyyhtia scored first for the Monsters with 14:59 left in the first period to take a 1-0 lead. Pyyhtia was assisted on the goal by Hunter McKown and Jakub Zboril.
The Monsters took a 2-0 lead when Dave Jiricek scored with 10:06 left in the first period. Jiricek was assisted on the goal by Sillinger and Stefan Matteau.
Dave Jiricek scores Monsters second goal in Wednesday night's playoff victory
(Alan Kornspan/Believeland Media)
The Senators then scored with 4:55 left in the first period to make the score 2-1.
The score remained 2-1 in favor of the Monsters as both teams did not score in the second period.
Goalie Jet Greaves had 39 saves in the Monsters 3-2 playoff victory over the Senators
(Alan Kornspan/Believeland Media)
However, the Senators scored in the third period to force overtime when Donovan Sebrango scored with 13:52 left in regulation.
For the game, the Monsters were led by Sillinger and Jiricek who both had one goal and one assist. In addition, Monsters goalie Jet Greaves, who also spent time with the Columbus Bluejackets in the NHL this season, had 39 saves for the contest.
With the victory, the Monsters now lead the North Division Semifinals, 2-1, over the Senators.
The Monsters will look to win the playoff series on Friday night as they host the Senators in game four at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
Friday night's puck drop is scheduled for 7pm.
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