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In their fifth game of the season against the Syracuse Crunch, the Lake Erie Monsters won in dramatic fashion, coming from behind to win in front of more than 8,000 fans at Quicken Loans Arena Friday night and winning by a 3-2 final. The Monsters are now 4-1 against the Crunch this season.

Crunch defenseman Aaron Rome started the scoring, notching his sixth goal of the year at the 3:40 mark of the first period. Holding the puck at the point, Rome faked a shot, getting around a Monster defender and into the clear. Unleashing a snap shot from the top of the circle to goalie Tyler Weiman’s right, Rome’s shot beat the netminder low, putting Syracuse up, 1-0. Kevin Harvey and Brian McGuirk picked up assists on the goal.

The game’s next goal would have to wait for the second period, but it would come on a remarkable play that was started by defenseman Nigel Williams and ended by T.J. Galiardi. Streaking up the middle of the ice, Williams hit Galiardi in stride. Coming in all alone on Crunch goalie Sebastian Dahm, Galiardi dipped his shoulder, faking a shot and deking forehand before putting the puck into the net. Derek Peltier picked up the second assist on the goal.

Just five minutes later, the Crunch would come back, taking the lead on the power play. With the puck in the slot, Derek MacKenzie would score his 13th goal of the year. Assists were given to Jon Landry and Mike York.

Going into the third down 2-1, the Monsters would feed off the energy from the crowd to get back into the game, as Darcy Campbell would tie the game at the 7:08 mark of regulation’s final frame. Coming into the zone with the puck, forward Randy Rowe threw a wrist shot on net, only to have it blocked by a Crunch defenseman. Trailing the play, Campbell picked up the puck in stride, firing it past the glove of Dahm into the top corner of the net, tying the game.

Then, less than five minutes later, Chris Durno would put the Monsters ahead for the first and final time. Flying into the zone down the left side, Peltier got off a wrist shot that was initially stopped by Dahm. As Durno drove the net, he fought through the check of a Crunch defender and backhanded the rebound into a yawning net to give the Monsters the win.

Weiman ended up with 25 saves on 27 shots while his counterpart, Dahm, registered 24 saves on 27 shots. “It’s a great win tonight,” said head coach Joe Sacco. “We fed off the home crowd being down 2-1 in the third, and showed good resilience and came away with a win. It was good to see the guys persevere.”

The Monsters will begin a nine-game road trip that will cover six states and one province in a matter of 16 days. The trip begins Saturday night when the Monsters play the Grand Rapids Griffins at 7:00 p.m. and will wrap up in Grand Rapids on Saturday, February 21st.

“We take a lot of confidence from this game going into our road trip,” said Weiman. “Down a goal, going into the third period, it’s always a good sign to come back and win, especially in front of the home crowd. That was a big lift for us in front of our fans and in our building.”

The next home game for the Monsters is slated for Wednesday, February 25th, when the Monsters host the Crunch again at 7:00 p.m.

Sights and Sounds

Tyler Weiman Interview   Coach Joe Sacco Interview

Quote, Unquote

"I was just trying to freeze pucks. They were throwing everything at the net, and they did a great job of putting bodies in front of me. I didn’t see too much on both their goals, they created a lot of traffic. I told the guys to let me see everything and I'll stop them. I’m just glad we got the win.” - Goaltender Tyler Weiman