The Lake Erie Monsters established a franchise-high six-game home winning streak by claiming a 3-2 victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins in front of a season-high 13,022 at Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday. The win came on the heels of a loss to the Griffins in Grand Rapids the previous night. 

The win marks Lake Erie’s 20th home victory of the season (20-8-2-3), which ties a franchise best for home wins in a single season (2008-09).

The Monsters have won 10 of their last 14 games (10-3-0-1), improving to 31-24-3-5 overall, while they tied with Hamilton for first place in the North Division.

Grand Rapids (26-25-1-8) quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead, scoring on their first shot of the game just 1:19 into the contest. In an odd-man rush, Derek Meech took a feed from Ilari Filppula and slapped a fluttering puck into the short side of the net.

The Monsters evened the score at a goal apiece when Justin Mercier set up Greg Mauldin with a one-timer on a centering pass at 9:33 of the period. David van der Gulik also assisted.

Lake Erie took a 2-1 lead when van der Gulik buried a rebound from close range at the 11:11 mark. Ben Walter and Mauldin assisted. Van der Gulik’s goal came as his fifth point (1G, 4A) in his last three games, while Walter’s helper extended his point streak to seven games (2G, 9A), the longest of any Monster this season. Mauldin’s assist came as his sixth point (3G, 3A) in his last five outings. 

The Monsters held Grand Rapids to just eight shots in the opening period, while they recorded 16 of their own.

In the middle frame, Lake Erie went up 3-1 when Patrick Bordeleau tapped in the rebound of a Julien Brouillette shot at 10:34. Luke Walker also assisted.

The Monsters carried their 3-1 lead into the second intermission, despite being outshot 14-6 in the period.

The third period was scoreless until the 18:39 mark, when Francis Pare scored off assists from Doug Janik and Corey Emmerton to finalize a 3-2 game.

Jason Bacashihua made 36 saves on 38 shots in recording his sixth win in his last seven games.

At the other end, Jordan Pearce went 25-for-28 in the loss for Grand Rapids.

The Monsters will be idle until Friday, March 4th, when they host Rockford at 7:30 p.m., beginning a two-game set with the IceHogs.

Three Stars: 1. LE van der Gulik (GW goal, 1 assist); 2. LE Mauldin (1 goal, 1 assist); 3. Bacashihua (36 saves)