CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Toronto Marlies brought out the brooms Tuesday night, but it wasn’t to help clean up the dust from the renovations to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, but to complete a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Monsters, 6-2, to claim the AHL North Division and end Cleveland’s season.

Cleveland took a 2-0 lead in the first period, but the secon period was a completely different story. The first 10 minutes spelled doom for the Monsters’ season.

The Marlies scored a minute into the second period to cut the Monsters’ lead to 2-1 when Mason Marchment cleaned up a rebound off a save by Monsters goaltender Brad Thiessen on a shot by Adam Brooks. Marchment easily put the puck into the open net as Theissen’s momentum carried him out of the crease.

Marchment then tied the game with a power play goal 2:47 later, tipping a Timothy Liljegren shot past Thiessen.

“We just got outworked,” Monsters coach John Madden said. “It is disappointing to think that we are playing for our playoff lives and they are outworking us.”

After Marchment scored his two goals, it was Trevor Moore who added a pair of tallies for the Marlies.

Moore gave the visitors the lead with 12:48 left in the period on a wrist shot elevated into a small space between Thiessen’s left shoulder and the crossbar. Just 2:40 later, Moore took a pass just left of the crease from Chris Mueller and was able to slide it into the net for a 4-2 lead.

“I think we just stopped working,” Madden said. “They picked up their game and buried four on us. With a 2-0 lead, we should have a better second period and a better effort.”

The Marlies added two goals from Michael Carcone in the third period, one on a 4-on-4 and one with an empty net.

“The 4-on-4 goal probably put us over the edge in terms of trying to claw back into it,” Madden said.

The Monsters got on the board first on Trey Fix-Wolansky’s first professional goal. Dillon Simpson found a the 19 year old with a pass down the ice and Fix-Wolansky went five hole to beat Kasimir Kaskisuo just 2:54 into the game. A few minutes later, Fix-Wolansky fired a shot toward the net and Zac Dalpe was there to tip it past Kaskisuo for a power play goal.

“We just capitalized on some chances,” Madden said. “One was a tip and one was a breakaway. That’s what you have to do to score on (Kaskisuo).”

Thiessen, who was trying to lead an AHL team back from a 3-0 series deficit for the second time after doing so with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2013, made 21 saves.

Despite being eliminated, Madden’s message to his players was about the joy of playing in the postseason.

“The lasting message is that playing in the playoffs is a lot of fun,” Madden said. “It’s a different environment. It’s just a fun experience.”

The Monsters will return to a newly renovated Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for their 2019-20 home opener on Friday, Oct. 11.

Ryan Isley is a freelancer from Akron.