For the fourth straight game, the Lake Erie Monsters (32-27-3-5) fell short, most recently by a 3-2 score to the Chicago Wolves (36-24-2-3) at Quicken Loans Arena Thursday night. Greg Mauldin and Patrick Rissmiller scored for the Monsters in the losing cause.

The Monsters have now played 11 straight games that have been decided by one goal. Chicago struck first at 8:19 of the opening frame when Nolan Baumgartner whistled a shot from the center of the Monsters blue line, and the puck was tipped in front by Wolves forward Andrew Gordon into the Monsters net on the power play; the first of two power play goals in the game for the Wolves.

Just 34 seconds later, the Monsters answered. Brad Malone tapped a puck up the right side boards, and Mauldin used his speed to catch up to the puck, fend off Wolves defenseman Jordan Henry, and flip a backhand shot by Chicago goalie Matt Climie to tie the game at 1-1. Mauldin’s goal was his 15th of the season.

The game remained tied until midway through the second period, when Chicago’s Jordan Schroeder fired a slap shot through traffic from the top of the left circle that beat Monsters goalie Cedrick Desjardins short side on the power play. Chicago never relinquished their lead.

At the 18:26 mark of the third period, former Monster Darren Haydar scored on a empty Lake Erie net to give Chicago a 3-1 lead.

With under four seconds remaining, Rissmiller banged home a rebound to pull the Monsters to within a goal, but the game ended with Chicago maintaining their 3-2 advantage. Rissmiller’s goal was his 12th of the season.

Desjardins is 12-9-3 after the loss; he stopped 29 of 31. Climie is 18-9-0 after stopping 22 of 24 shots.

The Monsters are back on the ice for “Pink the Rink” night (presented by Kaiser Permanente) on Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena; the puck drops at 7:30 p.m. as the Monsters host the North Division-leading Toronto Marlies in a game that can be heard live on AM 1220 WHKW, and seen live on FOX Sports Ohio.

NOTES: The Monsters finish the season series against Chicago with a 1-3-0-0 record, and fall to 4-10-1-1 all-time against the Wolves… Brad Malone dished out two assists in the game for his eighth multi-point game of his rookie season; the Monsters are now 6-2-0-0 when Malone has two or more points… The Monsters were 1-3 on the penalty kill after successfully killing off 10 of 10 opposing power plays over the last two games… The Monsters are 1-11 on the power play over their last three games… The Monsters are 12-5-1-4 since the all-star break… The Monsters are 0-2-1-0 in three home games following a seven-game home win streak… Saturday night’s game is the 10th and final meeting this season for the Monsters against the North Division-leading Toronto Marlies; the Monsters lost 2-1 by way of a shootout in Toronto on Wednesday.