Monsters last piece of playoff puzzle

The Cleveland Monsters earned the 16th and final invitation to the Calder Cup Playoff party on Sunday afternoon, their first postseason appearance since winning the championship in 2016.

The door opened for Cleveland when Belleville dropped a 4-2 decision to Rochester earlier in the day and the Monsters did their part with a 5-1 victory in Toronto, giving them fourth place in the North Division and setting up a first-round matchup with Syracuse.

With Cleveland joining the field, eight of the 16 teams in the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs were not in the postseason last spring.