Will Lockwood brought the jam-packed Coliseum to its feet less than two minutes into the contest with an early strike, and while the Monsters evened the score later in the frame, it was all Checkers from that point on.
Aidan McDonough kept his red-hot run going with back-to-back power-play tallies to close out the first, then two new faces in Oliver Okuliar and Sandis Vilmanis lit the lamp to run things up in the middle frame.
The Monsters punched back in third, but it was too little, too late. The stingy Charlotte defense - backstopped by Chris Driedger and his 22 stops - kept the Cleveland attack at bay and cruised down the stretch to a huge win in front of the raucous crowd.
QUOTES
Coach Geordie Kinnear on the gameThis time of year you look for spots where you see your identity. I thought in the second period we started to see it. The third period, I didn’t love it because it was back and forth with penalties, and four-on-four. We want to make sure we play five-on-five and continue to play the same way. I thought it was a good start and we had some big nights from some people. Keep building.
Kinnear on the chemistry between Criscuolo and McDonough
You look for pairs a little bit, and Kyle and McDonough since day one since they’ve been in our training camp have played together. There’s definitely some chemistry there. The right-shotted centerman with the lefty left winger, so the tendency is that he’s going to give him the puck more. They’ve been good.
Kinnear on McDonough
He's a hard-working kid that works on his game afterwards. He’s shooting pucks all the time. I think if you talk to him, he’s come in in really good shape compared to previous years. He’s only a second-year player that is continuing to grow and wants to continue to have that consistency.
Kinnear on the physical game
It makes the game more fun when you’re competitive like that. I’m very biased, but when you look at hockey as a physical sport, it’s the one-on-one battles that attracts everyone to it. It’s what makes our game stand out more than any other.
Kinnear on the home opener
We talk about energy all the time. There’s no better place for me with the fans, the music and the energy in the building. It’s part of our identity.
Criscuolo on the game
I think we’ve just been building every day and getting used to playing with each other, which allowed us to play fast tonight.
Criscoulo on this chemistry with McDonough and McAllister
It’s been great. Obviously a couple of young guys that have a lot of skill and a lot of energy.
