MONSTERS HAULT COMEBACK, WIN 4-3

02/08/2012 7:05 PM

By: Amy Spivey

Photo by Greg Hamil Rockford, Ill.- Despite two goals with less than two minutes left in regulation, the Rockford IceHogs could not mount enough of a charge and were knocked off 4-3 to the Lake Erie Monsters on Wednesday night at the BMO Harris Bank Center. Down 4-1, the Hogs tried to mount a comeback late in the game as Dylan Olsen buried his fourth marker of the season past Gerald Coleman at 18:13 to make it 4-2. Jimmy Hayes and Peter LeBlanc picked up assists on the play. Then with the IceHogs on a power play and Hutton off the ice in favor of the extra attacker, Ben Smith fed Hayes and the big winger lit the lamp to pull Rockford to within a goal at 19:42. The IceHogs kept the extra attacker on the ice for the remainder of the game but time ran out and Rockford dropped the contest, snapping their season-long four-game home winning streak. After a scoreless first period, the Monsters jumped out to a 2-0 lead with two tallies in the middle frame. First, Lake Erie converted on a 3-on-1 opportunity just 1:31 into the second period. David Liffiton started a rush into the IceHogs zone and dished the puck to Ryan Stoa. The Lake Erie centerman then made a cross-ice pass to Mark Olver, who fired the puck into a wide open net to give the Monsters a 1-0 lead. Then, at the 12:50 mark, Justin Mercier gave Lake Erie a two goal lead. Brad Malone picked up the puck inside the IceHogs zone and found Mercier open right in front of the net, and the winger made a move around Carter Hutton to push the score to 2-0. A few minutes later, Smith cut the Monsters’ lead in half with a power play tally. Smith picked up a pass from LeBlanc, and the second-year winger tucked his 13th goal of the season passed Coleman to make it a 2-1 game.