MONSTERS' REVENGE

CLEVELAND – The Lake Erie Monsters scored six unanswered goals to hand the Grand Rapids Griffins a 6-2 loss at the Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday. Despite the loss, Grand Rapids (13-8-0-0) leads their eight-game regular season series with Lake Erie (8-13-0-2) three games to two.

It was all Griffins in the first period, as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals from Kris Newbury and Jan Mursak.

From deep in the right wing corner, Newbury caught Tyler Weiman out of position with a shot that deflected off the goalpost and Weiman’s back, before crossing the line at the 9:20 mark. Then, Mursak put Grand Rapids ahead 2-0 when he tipped in Jakub Kindl’s 55-foot blast for a power play tally at 16:15.

The Monsters battled back in the second period when Brock Bradford snapped Lake Erie’s 156:44 scoreless streak with a goal 4:34 into the frame. To even the score at two goals apiece, Brett Skinner ripped a shot from the hash mark that found its way through traffic, and past Daniel Larsson at 7:21.

Lake Erie then took a 3-2 lead when former Griffin Darren Haydar lit the lamp with a forehand-backhand move at the 11:29 mark.

Brandon Yip started another three-goal period for Lake Erie when he drove past three Griffins defenseman to score on a quick breakaway at 7:02.

Ryan Stoa put Lake Erie up 5-2 at 17:54, before Bradford notched his second of the night with an empty-net goal with 1:18 remaining.

Larsson made 16 saves in net for Grand Rapids, while Weiman stopped 27 shots in the win for Lake Erie.

The Griffins will kick off a five-game home stand on Friday when they host the Rockford IceHogs for a 7:00 p.m. face off at Van Andel Arena.

Three Stars: 1. LE Haydar (GW goal, 1 assist); 2. LE Skinner (1 goal, 1 assist); 3. LE Dupuis (2 assists).