The Lake Erie Monsters built an early lead that vanished quickly following five unanswered goals to fall to the Hamilton Bulldogs,
5-1, Sunday night at Quicken Loans Arena.
After a 2-0 shutout victory Saturday night in Rockford, the Monsters opened Sunday’s game with the momentum that they closed the previous night with. Defenseman Vladimir Denisov worked his way into the Hamilton zone behind Monsters right wing David Jones and took Jones’ pass in the deep slot to beat Bulldog goaltender Yann Danis gloveside. Denisov’s tally at 3:27 of the first period is his second of the year. Also credited with the assist was winger J.D. Corbin, his first as a Monster.
Entering the second period with a 1-0 lead, the Monsters were scored upon in a hurry, as 1:42 into the second Jonathan Ferland cashed in a power play tally on a pass from Janne Lahti.
Moments later, Bulldogs left wing Eric Manlow’s itchy trigger finger went off for his fifth goal of the season at the 3:02 mark of the second, giving Hamilton a lead that they would not relinquish. Credited with the assists on the goal were Pavel Valentenko and Matt D’Agostini.
Going into the third period, the Bulldogs looked to add to their lead and did so on a power play marker by Jean-Philippe Cote at the 8:05 mark for his first of the season. Assisting Cote on the goal was Manlow and center Mathieu Aubin.
“What we are trying to do right now on our penalty kills is be more aggressive and pressure the puck. We did that last night. Tonight we were caught in between, which is worse than being passive. They capitalized on our defense and that was the turning point of the game,” said Monsters head coach Joe Sacco.
The Bulldogs continued to pad their lead on a marker by veteran centerman Ajay Baines at the 15:18 of the third, giving them a 4-1 advantage. The helpers were given to Mathieu Carle and Ryan Russell.
To top off the scoring torrent, Hamilton center Corey Locke added to his team-leading goal mark by notching his 12th of the season at the 15:57 mark of the third. Ferland and Lahti were credited with the helpers, giving Ferland, Lahti and Locke each two points on the night.
“They are a good team. They are right above us in the division, so it was a big game for us. We can’t give up points to teams in our division at this point in the season,” said Jones.
Monsters netminder Tyler Weiman was under fire following the first period as he made 23 stops on 28 shots. Bulldogs goalie Danis shut the door on 22 of the 23 he faced on the night.
The Monsters hit the road for a four-game stint beginning with a trip to Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday. The Monsters return home Tuesday, January 22nd, at 7:00 p.m. to faceoff against the Syracuse Crunch.
