In Tuesday’s contest the Monsters failed to capitalize on two separate 5-on-3 man advantages. On Wednesday, they allowed a goal in the same situation as Stars left wing Chris Conner took Lake Erie goaltender Tyler Weiman by surprise and cut through the slot to beat two defenders to score the goal.

“We didn’t execute. We got a little sloppy and there are no excuses. A 5-on-3 is unacceptable, it shouldn’t happen. That’s just the way things are going right now. We aren’t getting any bounces. Last night, we could have broke the game open and missed four or five open nets. We have a lot of character guys here and we will turn it around,” said Monsters left wing Eric Healey.

With 5:56 remaining in the first, Marty Sertich, standing on the Monsters doorstep, found easy access to the left side of the goal and put the second tally of the game in the books for the Stars.

At the 15:44 mark of the first, the Monsters received a much needed push from a penalty shot by Eric Healey. The veteran Healey deked right and then left, which opened Phillipe Sauve’s five hole for the goal.

A costly turnover with 0:21 seconds remaining in the first put the Monsters in an early hole as Stars co-captain Toby Peterson scored. Peterson had a breakaway in the left slot that was spurred by a fallen Monsters defender in front of the net. Petersen had the angle and enough space to fire the puck underneath Weiman’s blocker.

Late in the second period, Lake Erie seemed to find their stride in the Iowa zone as the passing lanes were narrow, but not narrow enough to stop some artful passes by David Jones and Codey Burki. Burki hit Jones with a cross-circle pass that drew the ire of Sauve to the right of the net. The moment Jones received it he dished it across the goalmouth to Healey who was two steps from the crease. Healey beat Sauve to his glove side and finished it off with a fist pump for the crowd.

Healey’s power play goal is the second scored in two games for the Monsters. The Monsters however are still trying to improve their percentage on the season. “We have to keep working on our power plays. We need to execute more on our power plays and take advantage of those situations,” said Head Coach Joe Sacco.

A brutal five minute stretch of three-on-five hockey to begin the third period was highlighted with tough save after tough save by Weiman. Seemingly the moment the Monsters penalties expired, the multitude of shots thrown at Weiman eventually broke his rhythm. Iowa center Sertich got paydirt on a defensive breakdown in the Lake Erie zone, notching his second of the night.

On the night, Weiman saw 50 shots and recorded 44 saves. Opposing goalies Tobias Stephan – who left in the first period after stopping eight of eight shots – and Sauve (17 saves on 19 shots) combined for 25 saves on 27 shots.

The Monsters play four games on the road during a three-week stretch beginning Saturday in Syracuse. They return home to Quicken Loans Arena on November 10 to face the Quad City Flames. For complete schedule details visit LakeErieMonsters.com.

Three Stars
Marty Sertich (IOW)	Eric Healey (LEM)	Vojtech Polak (IOW)
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"We have to learn from this and it's going to be a long process.  We are trying to work with young players here.  So we need to work on the negatives and positives in our game." - Monsters head coach Joe Sacco | More game quotes