Monsters Fall in Utica 6-3
Published on December 27, 2014 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Monsters News Release
In the season series finale, the Western Conference leading Utica Comets (21-5-5-0) handed the Lake Erie Monsters (13-12-2-3) a 6-3 loss Saturday night at the Utica Memorial Auditorium in Utica, New York. Karl Stollery, Paul Carey, and Troy Bourke scored for the Monsters, while Mike Sgarbossa added a pair of assists. The Monsters are back on the ice in Milwaukee Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
Brandon DeFazio opened the scoring at 13:15 of the first period, giving Utica a 1-0 lead, when he streaked toward the Monsters net and sent a wrist shot top-shelf past Monsters goalie Roman Will, who stopped 11 of 12 shots in the opening frame.
DeFazio ignited the Comets with a rebound goal from the left circle just 18 seconds into the second period to give Utica a 2-0 lead, and he completed his hat trick at 3:46 of the frame when he capitalized on a Monsters turnover at the blue line. DeFazio entered the zone on a breakaway and scored to give the Comets a 3-0 lead. Later in the second period, Wacey Hamilton extended the Comets lead to 4-0 at the 15:31 mark.
After a Brendan Gaunce power play goal gave Utica a 5-0 lead at 6:03 of the third period, Karl Stollery scored on a shot from the left point to put the Monsters on the board at 7:09 of the third period; an unassisted goal that was Stollery's fourth marker of the season.
The Monsters continued to chip away, as Paul Carey scored on a power play from the left circle to cut the Utica lead to 5-2. The goal was the eighth of the year for Carey, and came at 11:40 of the third period with assists to Max Noreau and Mike Sgarbossa. Troy Bourke tipped in a loose puck following a Markus Lauridsen shot at 16:58 of the third period for his fourth goal of the season to bring the Monsters to within 5-3 at 16:58 of the third period; a goal that was also assisted by Sgarbossa.
Darren Archibald scored an empty-net goal for Utica to secure a 6-3 victory for the Comets with 1:07 left in the game.
Roman Will played 40 minutes in net for the Monsters, stopping 22 of 26 shots and suffering the loss to fall to 2-6-1. Sami Aittokallio played the third period- his first game action since December 13th after missing time with an injury- and stopped 10 of 11 shots in relief. Joacim Eriksson is 12-3-4 in net for Utica with the win; he stopped 26 of 29 Monsters shots.
The Monsters are back on the ice in Milwaukee on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Tuesday's game airs live on ESPN 850 WKNR.
NOTES: The Monsters finish the season series against Utica with a record of 0-2-0-0... The Monsters are 5-7-2-1 on the road this season, and are winless (0-2-0-1) over their last three games... Sgarbossa's two assists give him a team-leading 15 helpers on the season... The Monsters are 6-4-0-1 over their last 11 games... The Monsters are 2-2-0-1 all-time in Utica... The Monsters were 1-2 on the power play, and Utica was 1-7... The Monsters killed off a pair of five-on-three Utica power plays; one that was 44 seconds long, and one that was two minutes long... Follow the Monsters on Twitter @monstershockey, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lakeeriemonsters, and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/monstershockey .
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