Columbus Blue Jackets: Cleveland Monsters Visit Utica

With the season underway for the Cleveland Monsters, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate is ready to face Utica.

The Cleveland Monsters are in full swing and a recent reinforcement from the Columbus Blue Jackets, Gabriel Carlsson, has yet to make a substantial difference. The return of Kevin Stenlund from injury in the last game against the WBS Penguins will be very important for the next few games.

Jean-Francois Berube has been the most valuable Monster to start the season, despite his stats dropping as of late. Close behind though are the point per game trio of Zac Dalpe, Eric Robinson and Kevin Stenlund.

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Players who need to make an impact with the current road trip include Sam Vigneault and Calvin Thurkauf, both of whom are pointless to this point in the year.

The winner of the game tonight will earn an advantage over the other in the standings, which would be more of an advantage for the Monsters who would have a game in hand. The Monsters and Comets are both at six points currently, but the Comets have played one more game than Cleveland.

The starting goaltenders have yet to be named and it seems up in the air as of now for Cleveland. Berube is the main starting goaltender, however Theissen has played well in his only start and almost certainly earned another shot sometime soon.

Richard Bachman has started a majority of games for Utica, but former Monsters Ivan Kulbakov has played better in his two starts. Although, neither has had a great start for the Comets.

The biggest threat for the Comets will be Reid Boucher who is on a phenomenal pace to start the year. He has eight goals and two assists for a total of ten points in just six games. Another player to keep an eye on is top prospect Olli Juolevi.

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The Cleveland Monsters will face a challenge tonight in Utica, but they should have a decent chance of walking out with a win.

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