The Cleveland Monsters allowed three unanswered goals as they lost to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms by a score of 4-2.
Midway through the 2nd period things appeared to be going according to plan for the Cleveland Monsters. Cleveland held a 2-1 lead over the eighth place Phantoms and were in position to come away with a win in Lehigh Valley. The remainder of the game did not go Cleveland’s way as they allowed three unanswered goals in what would be a 4-2 loss.
It was not for a lack of trying as the Monsters actually held the advantage in the shots on goal department over the final two periods (22-15). An ill-timed tripping penalty on Olivier LeBlanc gave the Phantoms a power play opportunity which proved to be a catalyst for the rest of the game. In less than a 12 minute span of game time, Lehigh Valley scored three times taking a 4-2 lead with just 3:45 elapsed in the 3rd period which end up as the final score.
Scoring for Cleveland was Cole Clayton in the 1st period on one of their two power play chances. It was the first goal of the season for Clayton while Kevin Stenlund (10) and Josh Dunne (4) assisting on the play. The Monsters second and final goal of the game came midway in the 2nd as Tyler Sikura netted his sixth of the season. Thomas Schemitsch (4) and Liam Foudy (10) each were credited with an assist on the play.
Daniil Tarasov retuned to his place in between the pipes after returning to Cleveland from Columbus earlier in the week. Tarasov allowed four goals on 31 shots, just the second time in his last five AHL appearances allowing more than one goal.
