The Lake Erie Monsters came up short in their second and final game of the season against the Quad City Flames, dropping the game a 3-2 final at i Wireless Arena on Wednesday night. A former Monster, Jamie Lundmark, would come back to haunt his former club, registering two points (1G, 1A), including the game’s winning tally to go along with being named first star of the game.
Flames center Brett Sutter started off the scoring, picking up his sixth goal of the season at the 13:20 mark of the first period. Forwards Cam Cunning and Warren Peters registered assists on the goal.
The Flames would strike again, when the team jumped ahead by two goals on Kyle Greentree’s 28th goal of the season at 3:06 of the second period. Greentree’s tally was assisted by Lundmark and David Van der Gulik.
Looking for an insurance marker, Quad City would go ahead by three just five minutes later, when Lundmark scored on the power play. The goal was his 15th of the season. Defenseman Anders Eriksson and Greentree picked up assists on the goal.
Down, but not out, Lake Erie would come back just a minute and a half later when Matt Hendricks picked up his fifth goal of the season at 10:44 of the second. With the goal, Hendricks has scored in the past three consecutive games (1G, 2A). It was the first time this season Hendricks has put up points in three consecutive games. Forward Tom Fritsche and defenseman Aaron MacKenzie recorded assists on the goal. With the assist, Fritsche has recorded points in four consecutive games (2G, 2A).
Going into the third down by a pair of goals, the Monsters would close Quad City’s lead to a single goal when Codey Burki picked up his sixth goal of the season at the 16:22 mark of regulation’s final frame. Defensemen Nigel Williams and MacKenzie picked up assists on the goal. The two-assist performance was MacKenzie’s second multi-point effort of the season.
The comeback effort would fall short, however, and the Monsters would come up just short. Monsters goalie Tyler Weiman recorded 31 saves on 34 shots while Flames netminder Kevin Lalande made 27 saves on 29 shots. The Monsters end the year with a 1-1 record against Quad City.
Lake Erie will wrap up their nine-game road trip with a game in Rockford on Friday and a contest in Grand Rapids on Saturday. The Monsters will return to Quicken Loans Arena for their first home game in 19 days on Wednesday, February 25th against the Syracuse Crunch.