One has to tip their hat to first-year head coach Trent Vogelhuber of the Cleveland Monsters. Despite the fact many of Vogelhuber's top players have been called up to the Blue Jackets given the spate of injuries at the NHL Level, the Monsters remain in contention in the AHL.
Cleveland currently sits at 8-5-0-2 through 15 games, a mark of 18 points that ties the Monsters with Rochester for second place in the AHL North Division, three points behind leaders Toronto. The Monsters have points in their last six games with four victories and two shootout losses despite the fact three of the club's top six scorers and four defensemen are with Columbus at the moment.
The Monsters are coming off a notable week of games, including an 8-7 shootout loss Wednesday at Belleville, a 7-3 win Friday night at Laval and a 5-4 shootout loss Saturday against the Rocket.
Trey Fix-Wolansky, who was recalled Sunday, was just named the AHL's player of the week after posting a 5-5-10 line in three games, which extended his scoring run to seven goals and 14 points in the previous four games.
Fix-Wolansky scored twice in the 8-7 game vs. Belleville, which also included 1-2-3 nights from Carson Meyer and Justin Richards. Fix-Wolansky had two goals and five points in Friday's win at Laval, with Meyer adding a 1-3-4 line and 2022 first-round pick David Jiricek scoring his first two pro goals. Owen Sillinger then tallied twice and both Fix-Wolansky and Jiricek scored again in the Saturday shootout loss.
On the season, Fix-Wolansky's hot streak moved him into a tie for the AHL scoring lead with a 10-12-22 line in 14 games. Meyer isn't far behind with six goals and 18 points in 15 games, while Kirill Marchenko has eight goals and six assists for 14 points in 15 games.
Cleveland hosts the first-place Marlies this weekend with games Friday and Saturday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.