Monsters down WIld, 3-1

CLEVELAND, OH – The Iowa Wild (4-17-1-3, 10 points) were defeated by the Lake Erie Monsters (13-5-1-2, 29 points) 3-1 in front of 10,131 fans on Friday night at Quicken Loans Arena. Lake Erie scored three times in the last 7:58 of play, erasing a one-goal deficit and taking a two-goal decision over the Wild. Despite stopping 20 of 22, Iowa goalie Leland Irving (3-8-3) was stuck with the lost. Less than six minutes after John Ramage tied the game 1-1, Monsters center Manny Malhotra scored the decisive goal with 2:28 remaining in regulation. Lake Erie goalie Anton Forsberg (8-2-1) made 19 saves in the win. The Wild returns home to host Chicago at 7 pm on Tuesday.

Iowa scored the first period’s lone goal, breaking a scoreless tie at 14:14 off Jared Knight’s first goal of the year. Applying heavy pressure on the forecheck, Iowa’s Raphael Bussieres forced a turnover on a Monsters breakout. Bussieres held the puck as he moved towards the Lake Erie crease, slipping a cross-ice pass to Knight, who beat Anton Forsberg for the 1-0 Iowa lead.

After a scoreless second period, Lake Erie struck at 11:27 of the final frame, tying the game 1-1. The Monsters pressed the Wild in their own zone, defenseman John Ramage drove to the net and found a rebound, sneaking it past a sprawled out Leland Irving for his second goal of the year. Forward Josh Anderson and Sonny Milano each had an assist on the game-tying goal. Monsters center Manny Malhotra redirected a point shot by Michael Paliotta at 17:32, giving Lake Erie a 2-1 lead. Off a faceoff win by Malhotra, Paliotta ripped a shot to the Iowa net and Malhotra tipped it past Irving for his first goal of the year. Monsters Trent Vogelhuber added an empty-net goal at 19:29 for the 3-1 final, with an assist from Nick Moutrey.