CHARLOTTE, NC – In the fourth of eight head-to-head meetings between the two teams this season, Cleveland’s Lake Erie Monsters earned one standings point in a 4-3 overtime defeat at the hands of the Charlotte Checkers at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, NC on Sunday. With the overtime loss, the Monsters are 15-8-2-2 overall this season and with a .630 points percentage, currently sit alone in fourth place in the AHL’s Central Division standings.
The Monsters struck first on Sunday when Josh Anderson wired his seventh goal of the season past Charlotte net-minder Daniel Altshuller at even-strength on feeds from Michael Paliotta and Oleg Yevenko at 2:38 of the opening frame. The Checkers responded with back-to-back even-strength tallies, from former Monster T.J. Hensick at 6:50 and Jake Chelios at 13:22, and claimed a 2-1 lead over Lake Erie following one period of play.
In the second, the Monsters quickly tied the game, thanks to Daniel Zaar’s team-leading eighth score of the season, a power-play marker at 2:25 assisted by Dean Kukan and Michael Chaput. Charlotte kept their nose to the grindstone though, and at 12:26 of the middle frame, Hensick potted a two-on-one wrister from the right circle to make it 3-2 Checkers heading into the third.
With time winding down in regulation, Monsters leading scorer T.J. Tynan supplied his first goal of the season at 10:14 with Oliver Bjorkstrand and Michael Paliotta registering assists on an even-strength tally that earned Lake Erie an overtime berth and one point in the standings. The Checkers persevered, however, and at 3:04 of the three-on-three extra session, Charlotte captain Derek Ryan buried his team-high 12th of the year and delivered the Checkers a 4-3 victory.
Anton Forsberg’s record fell to 10-4-2 in net for the Monsters this season despite a 29-save performance while Charlotte’s Daniel Altshuller improved to 3-0-0 by virtue of a 24-stop outing.
With Lake Erie game report
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