The Monsters struck early as Brent Kelly flew through the slot to get his fourth tally of the year at the 1:49 mark of the first. Kelly’s goal was assisted by T.J. Hensick and Eric Healey, who has three points in his last three games.

The Monsters played as if they weren’t satisfied with a one goal lead as J.D. Corbin notched his second tally of the season on a shorthanded breakaway at the 10:11 mark of the second. Corbin sped through the slot with a defender to his rear, and quickly shot at Rochester goalie Tyler Plante, which he denied. It was Corbin’s persistence on the rebound that resulted in the goal as he followed his own shot by lofting the puck over Plante’s glove. Credited with the assists on Corbin’s goal were defensemen Jeff Jillson and Mitch Love.

The Monsters entered the third period with a 2-0 lead that they did not want to fall back on, which became obvious as Jamie Lundmark scored just 1:51 into the third. The goal is his first as a Monster. Lundmark was assisted by Love and Kelly. Kelly’s helper marks his third multi-point game of the season, while Love recorded his first and second assists as a Monster.

“Mitch plays the same way every game. He is steady, he is reliable and he always sticks up for his teammates. He is a physical presence out there. He is not worried about the points, but it is always nice for a guy like Mitch to get the points to reward his efforts,” said Monsters head coach Joe Sacco.

The Monsters played consistently on both ends of the ice, which was evidenced by scoring in each period and the goaltending efforts of Tyler Weiman.

“It was nice that we were able to hold onto that lead tonight. We did it because we never sat back and we kept our forecheck going. That was the difference and why we were able to control the lead,” said Sacco.

Monsters goaltender Weiman had his first shutout of the season, stopping 36 of 36 shots on goal in his first start since December 8th. Opposing goaltender Plante managed to deny 23 of the 26 that he faced.

“It feels great to get back in the action again. The guys played hard tonight. The biggest thing was our killer instinct that finally put them away,” said Weiman.

The Monsters return to action on New Year’s Eve in Manitoba, followed by the second of the back-to-back set on Tuesday. The Monsters return home to take on the Hamilton Bulldogs next Sunday, January 6th, at 5:00 p.m. at The Q.

Sights and Sounds
View photos	Watch Sacco Interview	Watch Weiman Interview
Three Stars
Tyler Weiman (LEM)	J.D. Corbin (LEM)	Mitch Love (LEM)
Quote, Unquote
“It was a good 60 minutes of hockey. We made our mistakes, and when we made those mistakes Tyler was there to back us up.” - Monsters head coach Joe Sacco | More Quotes