A good run comes up short.
Following Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the Laval Rocket, the Cleveland Monsters are done for the season.
Losing in four games to former Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent and the Rocket in the best-of-five North Division Semifinals, the Monsters were eliminated by the top overall seed in the AHL Calder Cup playoffs. Laval advances to the North Division Finals against the Rochester Americans.
The Rocket led the North Division with a 48-19-3-2 record and 101 points. Cleveland entered the playoffs fifth in the division at 35-26-5-5 and 81 points.
Had a few people ask about why Cleveland gets to start at home over Laval.
— Mark Scheig (@mark_scheig) April 27, 2025
The rule in the AHL is if two teams are more than 300 miles apart, then the higher seeded team gets to choose either a 2-2-1 format or 2-3 format.
Laval chose 2-3, so Cleveland opens at home. #CBJ
The Monsters lost Game 1, 3-2. Joseph LaBate's first-period goal gave the Monsters the 1-0 lead but three unanswered goals by Laval was the difference. Denton Mateychuk scored in the third period to bring the Monsters to within one, making the score the eventual 3-2 final.
That Game 1 loss ended a five-game winning streak for Greaves in the AHL, combining three straight regular season wins and two playoff wins from the first-round best-of-three series against the Toronto Marlies.
Overall, Greaves hadn't lost in 10 straight decisions, combining his five straight wins in the NHL with the Columbus Blue Jackets and five straight wins for the Monsters, with his last prior loss coming on March 29.
|
Monsters Scoring, April 30 |
Period | Time | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-0, Cleveland | 1 | 12:07 | Joseph LaBate (PPG) |
Luca Del Bel Belluz, Trey Fix-Wolansky |
| 3-2, Laval | 3 | 17:36 | Denton Mateychuk (PPG) |
Trey Fix-Wolansky, Joseph LaBate |
The Monsters were shutout 4-0 in Game 2. Cleveland made lineup changes ahead of Game 3, with Jordan Dumais going in and Gavin Brindley coming out. Then they got their first win, beating the Rocket 3-1 on the road. Dylan Gambrell scored twice and Roman Ahcan scored. Jet Greaves made 37 saves.
|
Monsters Scoring, May 4 |
Period | Time | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-0, Cleveland | 2 | 18:05 | Dylan Gambrell |
Roman Ahcan, Luca Pinelli |
| 2-0, Cleveland | 3 | 7:32 | Dylan Gambrell |
Luca Pinelli, Roman Ahcan |
| 3-0, Cleveland | 3 | 11:39 | Roman Ahcan (SHG) | Samuel Knazko |
Mateychuk was on the receiving end of a big hit from Logan Mailloux, leaving Sunday's Game 3, and missed Tuesday's Game 4 at Laval.
Andree-Anne reports Denton Mateychuk is out of Game 4. He is considered day-to-day. Drew Bavaro appears to be coming into the Monsters lineup. #CBJ https://t.co/UwmDOjgVNs
— Mark Scheig (@mark_scheig) May 6, 2025
Cleveland got down three goals early and never recovered, falling 4-1. Laval scored two first-period power-play goals and three for the game.
|
Monsters Scoring, May 6 |
Period | Time | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-1, Laval | 2 | 17:19 | Luca Del Bel Belluz | Samuel Knazko |
During the two games in Laval - Games 3 & 4 - @RocketLaval was 3-12 on the power play, while @monstershockey was 0-3. https://t.co/1Hmr2C4RYt
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) May 7, 2025
Greaves made 32 saves and had a .912 save percentage in six playoff games to go with a 2.67 goals against average. After a strong display in the playoffs and a final month and change for him between the NHL and AHL, one can expect to see a lot more of him in Columbus next season.
He'll be on a one-way contract next season.
