CLEVELAND -- Amadeus Lombardi scored the lone goal for the Griffins, as Grand Rapids fell 3-1 to the Cleveland Monsters on Sunday at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. 

Lombardi’s fifth goal in 10 games this season matched his total from last year when he played 70 games for the Griffins. The 21 goals surrendered by Grand Rapids through 10 games are the second fewest in franchise history, as they allowed 18 in 2004-05. Jakub Rychlovsky and Elmer Soderblom were credited with the assists. Rookie Ondrej Becher made his AHL debut and became the 25th player to make his Griffins debut the season after he was drafted and just the eighth to do so during the first month of the following season. 

The Monsters took the early lead when Roman Ahcan scored his first goal of the night at 4:09 with a shot from the low slot that slipped past Sebastian Cossa. Grand Rapids quickly evened the score thanks to Lombardi’s goal at 10:18. Rychlovsky fired a pass from the left-wing boards to Lombardi who wrapped the puck around Zach Sawchenko for the score. Ahcan tallied his second goal of the game to put the Monsters back on top 2-1 with 1:06 remaining in the first. From a tight angle near the left goalpost, Achan banked the puck of Cossa’s back and into the net.  

Both teams saw a flurry of scoring chances in the second period, including the Griffins’ first power play opportunity, but neither could cash in. Dominik Shine flirted with a game-tying goal at 19:40, but the puck bounced off the post and the Monsters controlled the lead heading into the second intermission. 

With 6:10 remaining the Monsters threatened to extend their lead to two, but a shot by James Malatesta ricocheted off the post. The Griffins pulled Cossa with two minutes left to play, but with 45 seconds remaining, Owen Sillinger scored an empty netter to put the game out of reach. Grand Rapids couldn’t find the back of the net in the remaining seconds and Cleveland skated away with a 3-1 win. 

Notes

• Grand Rapids has been outshot every game this season, including 26-18 tonight. 

Box Score

Grand Rapids 1 0 0 - 1
Cleveland 2 0 1 - 3

1st Period-1, Cleveland, Ahcan 6 (McKown), 4:09. 2, Grand Rapids, Lombardi 5 (Rychlovsky, Söderblom), 10:18. 3, Cleveland, Ahcan 7 (Mateychuk), 18:54. Penalties-Tuomisto Gr (tripping), 15:21.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Fix-Wolansky Cle (cross-checking), 19:00.

3rd Period-4, Cleveland, Sillinger 2 (Gambrell, Ahcan), 19:15 (EN). Penalties-Gambrell Cle (delay of game), 4:03; Danielson Gr (hooking), 7:43.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 6-9-3-18. Cleveland 8-6-12-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 0 / 2; Cleveland 0 / 2.
Goalies-Grand Rapids, Cossa 4-3-1 (25 shots-23 saves). Cleveland, Sawchenko 2-1-0 (18 shots-17 saves).
A-7,172

Three Stars 

1. CLE Ahcan (two goals, one assist); 2. CLE Denton Mateychuk (assist); 3. CLE Sawchenko (W, 17 saves)

Record/Next Game 

Grand Rapids: 6-3-1-0 (13 pts.) / Thu., Nov. 7 at Iowa 11:30 a.m. EST

Cleveland: 4-3-0-1 (9 pts.) / Wed., Nov. 6 vs. Rochester 7 p.m. 

Photo by Cleveland Monsters