The Lake Erie Monsters (0-3) got on the board first and outshot the visiting Rochester Americans (1-2) by a 35-24 count, but still came up short on Friday, falling 3-1 at Quicken Loans Arena. With the loss, the Monsters come up empty on a three-game homestand to start the season, having been outscored a combined 6-2 in the three losses, with both goals scored by Greg Mauldin.

The Monsters were 0-for-2 on the power play on Friday, and have now failed to convert on their first eleven power play chances this season.

Mauldin banged home a rebound just after the expiration of a power play at 16:06 of the first period to give the Monsters a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Tyson Barrie and Stefan Elliott picked up the assists on Mauldin’s second goal of the season. For Barrie, it was his first point as a professional, while fellow rookie Elliot recorded his second assist in three games.

Just over five minutes into the second period, Michael Ryan capitalized on a defensive-zone turnover by the Monsters as he took over possession in front of the Lake Erie net, and deposited a puck past Lake Erie goalie Trevor Cann to tie the game at 1-1.

At 16:54 of the second period and Rochester on the power play, T.J. Brennan moved in on the Monsters net, mishandled the puck, but still managed to roll it over the goal line to give the Americans a 2-1 lead.

The Monsters kept it a one-goal game until Derek Whitmore added the insurance tally at 7:38 of the third period. He redirected a Nick Crawford point shot to make the score 3-1.

Cann turned away 21 of 24 shots in the loss. He is now 0-3 and has started all three games for the Monsters this season. David Leggio improved to 1-1 in net for Rochester; he stopped 34 of 35 shots in the win.

Friday’s game began a weekend three-in-three for the Monsters. They travel to Toronto for games Saturday and Sunday afternoons to start a five-game road swing. The team will return home to Cleveland on Wednesday, October 26th against Syracuse.