AHL Cleveland Monsters

Comeback Attempt Comes up Short But Nets One Point

Published on February 5, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Monsters News Release


In hosting the San Antonio Rampage for the second time in less than 24 hours, the Lake Erie Monsters climbed out of a two-goal third-period deficit to force the game outside of regulation and gain a point in the standings, but fell 5-4 in a shootout at Quicken Loans Arena.

The loss drops Lake Erie to 24-22-3-5 overall and 14-9-2-3 on home ice.

The Rampage (31-18-2-0) jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a power play goal just 4:26 into the contest. From the right point, Garrett Stafford took a wrist shot that made its way through net-front traffic and into the net. Ned Lukacevic and Bracken Kearns assisted.

San Antonio went up 2-0 with a goal by Alexandre Picard at the 7:22 mark. Viktor Tikhonov and Brett MacLean recorded helpers.

After 20 minutes, the Rampage led 2-0 with a 12-8 advantage in shots.

In the middle frame, the Monsters used a 5-on-3 power play to cut their two-goal deficit in half. Joel Chouinard took a pass from Ben Walter and rifled a one-timer through Matt Climie at the 4:14 mark. Chouinard's goal pushed his point streak to three games (1G, 2A), while Mark Olver also assisted.

The Rampage made the score 3-1 with a power play goal at 16:57 of period. From the top of the right circle, Lukacevic snapped a shot into the top left corner of the net. Stafford and Matt Watkins recorded assists.

San Antonio led 3-1 after the second period, despite the Monsters outshooting the Rampage 10-9 in the middle stanza.

In the third period, the Monsters tied the game by scoring twice in a span of 33 seconds. At 4:19, Travis Gawryletz fired a wrist shot from the right point that was tipped in by Patrick Bordeleau. Bordeleau's goal came as his first of the season, while Gawryletz's assist marked his second helper in as many games. Mike Carman also assisted. At 4:52, Mark Olver scored his team-leading 21st goal of the season when he placed a wrist shot into the top right corner of the net. Bordeleau assisted for his first multi-point game of the season. Goaltender Jason Bacashihua also assisted, marking the first time a Lake Erie goaltender was credited with an assist since February 6, 2010 (Billy Sauer).

The Rampage answered quickly, making the score 4-3 off Matt Pope's goal at 6:36. Pope took assists from J.D. Watt and David Brine.

Lake Erie just as quickly retied the game when Matt Generous scored his first goal as a Monster at 7:17. Olver assisted, marking his first three-point outing and team-leading eighth multi-point outing of the season. Olver has recorded seven points (4G, 3A) in his last five games. Patrick Rissmiller also assisted for his fourth point (2G, 2A) in his last three games.

The score remained 4-4 at the end of regulation, despite the Monsters outshooting San Antonio 14-4 in the third period.

In overtime, San Antonio recorded six shots to Lake Erie's two, but neither team scored, leading to a shootout.

In a five-round shootout, Stafford was the lone scorer, lifting the Rampage to a 5-4 shootout win.

Bacashihua stopped 27 of 31 shots in the game and three of four shootout candidates.

At the other end, Matt Climie went 18-for-17 through 40 minutes. In relief, Al Montoya stopped 13 of 16 shots faced, before going 5-for-5 in the shootout.

The Monsters will continue a stretch of 12 of 13 home games and conclude a home three-in-three weekend by hosting the Abbotsford Heat at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Three Stars: 1. SA Stafford (1 goal, 1 assist, shootout goal); 2. SA Lukacevic (1 goal, 1 assist); 3. LE Olver (1 goal, 2 assists)

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American Hockey League Stories from February 5, 2011


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