The bitter rivalry between the Browns and Steelers boils the blood of fans from both cities. Tension builds every time the Cavaliers and Pistons meet, and for the Guardians, you can mark it down now that late-season games with the Tigers will be pivotal in the AL Central race. The Monsters and Grand Rapids Griffins don’t take a back seat to those rivalries when are in the same hockey rink, even if most fans don’t realize it. The dislike for each other, passed down from one team to the next in their respective locker rooms, can be traced to 2007-08 when the Monsters played their first season in Cleveland after Cavs owner Dan Gilbert purchased the dormant AHL Utah Grizzlies franchise. The Griffins were one of the teams the Monsters had to go through to win the Calder Cup in 2016. The stakes were high when the Monsters and Griffins renewed their rivalry on March 6 at Rocket Arena, and the Monsters prevailed, 3-2, in front of 11,133 frenzied fans. Luca Merrelli, 20 years old, broke a 2-2 tie on a slapshot from the right point 11:34 into the third period. Monsters goalie Zach Sawchenko was masterful in the final 20 minutes, stopping 16 of 17 shots. The Griffins had only eight shots on goal the first two periods combined. At one point, a Monsters fan sitting alongside the Grand Rapids penalty box was egging on Griffins defenseman Austin Watson, who was sent off the ice for slashing at 2:42 of the third period. Watson lost his cool and loudly smacked the glass between him and the fan. Watson was immediately slapped with a misconduct penalty and sent off the ice. That made the fans even more excited. “Our rowdy crowd got the energy going,” Monsters coach Trent Vogelhuber said. Both teams defended hard. Emotions rise eventually. I thought our guys did a pretty good job staying between the lines and protecting each other. It was full of emotion, but that’s okay.” The Monsters dominated the faceoffcircle, 27-14 — a key facet of their victory. The Griffins’ record of 42-8-3-1 before puck drop was the best in the AHL. The Monsters, now 30-18-6-1, are striving to finish in the top three spots in the North to get a first-round bye. They are currently third. Ondrej Becker put the Griffins on the scoreboard first when he snapped the second shot of the game on a rebound past Sawchenko at 4:47 of the first period. The Monsters tied the game 1-1 with 4:44 left in the first period when Luca Del Bel Belluz, camped out at the far post, took a pass by Brendan Gaunce from the left circle and lifted the puck over the glove of Griffins goalie Sebastian Cossa. The score remained 1-1 until Gaunce accelerated on the right side of the ice toward the Griffins goal, cut left toward the net, and flicked the puck between Cossa’s leg pads for a 2-1 Cleveland lead with 5:13 left in the second period. Gabriel Seger of the Griffins made it 2-2 at 9:41 of the third period. Merrelli scored what proved to be the game-winner less than two minutes later. ...read more read less