The visiting Lake Erie Monsters (0-5-1-0) recorded their first power play goal and first point of the 2011-12 season while falling 4-3 in overtime to the Syracuse Crunch (3-0-1-0). Friday’s game was the first of a three-in-three this weekend and the third in a five-game road trip for the Monsters.

Syracuse opened the scoring just 21 seconds into the game when Kyle Palmieri took a pass at the side of the goal and one-timed it in to give the Crunch a early 1-0 lead. Nick Bonino and Patrick Maroon assisted.

Less than four minutes later, the Monsters evened the score when David Liffiton fired a slap shot from the center of the Syracuse blue line that beat goalie Jeff Deslauriers. Ben Wilson and Eric Hunter assisted on the goal. The helpers were their first professional points, while the goal was Liffiton’s first of the season.

At 7:33 of the first period, Adrian Foster – playing his first game with Lake Erie - gave the Monsters a 2-1 lead when he found a loose puck at the side of the net and quickly pushed it over the line for his first of the season. David van der Gulik and Tyson Barrie assisted on the goal. The Monsters had the man advantage on the play, the team’s first power play marker of the season. Lake Erie was 0-19 on the power play going into Friday’s contest.

After a second period that yielded no scoring, Palmieri tied the game at 7:44 of the third period. Palmieri took a long pass from Mathieu Carle and streaked in on a breakaway, deking Monsters goalie Trevor Cann to tie the game at 2-2. Maroon was also credited with a helper, his second of the night.

Hugh Jessiman scored his first of the season and first as a Monster at 13:33 of the third period when he grabbed a loose puck off to the side of the Syracuse net and quickly turned it over the goal line to give the Monsters a 3-2 lead. Justin Mercier and Jake Newton assisted on the goal; for Newton, the assist was his first point as a Monster.

Thirty-three seconds later, Maroon scored when he nabbed a bouncing puck in front of the net in what would prove to be the game-tying goal that forced overtime. Bonino and former Monster Kyle Cumiskey assisted.

In overtime, after Liffiton was assessed a hooking minor, Maroon scored on a rebound at 1:04 to give Syracuse the second point and the win.

Cann took the loss in net for Lake Erie; he stopped 30 of 34 shots and his record moved to 0-4-1. Deslauriers earns the win to improve to 3-0-0; he stopped 30 of 33 shots.

The Monsters and Crunch will do battle again in Syracuse on Saturday night with the puck dropping at 7:30 p.m.