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In front of more than 9,100 raucous fans, Monsters goalie Tyler Weiman recorded his AHL-leading eighth shutout of the season to help the Monsters earn a 3-0 win over the Houston Aeros Saturday night at Quicken Loans Arena. The shutout was the team’s 10th of the season. Lake Erie wraps up the season with a 2-2 record against the Aeros.

“We can certainly say that we have battled hard all year,” said Monsters head coach Joe Sacco. “The guys are playing for each other. They were willing to do whatever it took to help the team win. That is a sign of good character and that’s what we have. I’m proud of the way the guys played tonight.”

Matt Hendricks scored first for the Monsters, notching his 11th goal of the season seven minutes into the game. From below the goal line, Phil Dupuis found Hendricks in the slot. As soon as the puck got to his stick, Hendricks blew a one-timer past Aeros goalie Anton Khudobin. David Marshall picked up the second assist on the goal. With the assist, Dupuis has registered a point in the past five games and has recorded 12 points (3G, 9A) in the past 13 games.

After taking a 1-0 lead, the second period would go scoreless, with Weiman turning aside 10 shots and Khudobin stopping two shots from the Monsters.

It would take 40 more minutes for the scoreboard to see another digit, when the Monsters would pad their lead on Mike McLean’s fourth goal of the season 7:19 into the third period. After an errant Aeros pass hit a stick and trickled to center ice, McLean blew past two Aeros defenders, giving himself a breakaway from the red line in. When he closed in on Khudobin, McLean wired a wrist shot to the top corner past the helpless Houston goalie’s glove. McLean has now recorded points in the past three games (1G, 2A).

Just more than a minute later, captain Chris Durno would add the insurance marker with his team-leading 18th goal of the season. When a Monsters dump-in came around the boards, Khudobin corralled it behind the net. Instead of leaving it for one of his defensemen as he had intended, Monsters newcomer Patrick Bordeleau picked up the puck, swooping behind the net before passing it out to Durno in front of the cage. Scrambling to get back in his crease, Khudobin slid across the front of the net, only to have Durno drag the puck around his flailing limbs and rip it into the top half of the net. The assist was Bordeleau’s first point as a Monster.

“We have a lot of pride in that room,” said Weiman. “We have been playing for each other and playing for the jersey that we’re wearing and everybody that has supported us all year. Obviously, our fans, we want to have a good effort for them and we had another great crowd tonight. We just wanted to do it for everybody there.”

Weiman finished the game with 21 saves, while Khudobin turned aside 14 of Lake Erie’s 17 shots.

Up next, Lake Erie will continue their postponed game from Saturday, March 21st against the San Antonio Rampage on Monday at 6:00 p.m. at Hoover Arena in Strongsville. The Monsters then travel to play the Chicago Wolves on Wednesday before returning to The Q to host the Manitoba Moose for the last game of the season on Saturday, April 11th.

Sights and Sounds

Tyler Weiman Interview   Coach Joe Sacco Interview

Quote, Unquote

"Certainly when called upon Tyler came up with some big saves for us, timely saves. He and Bacashihua have been doing that all year.  Our goaltending has been the backbone of our team and certainly those two guys have been real supportive of each other with what’s going on with them this year. I think that it has been a good competition for both of them. I think it’s brought out the best of both goaltenders this year.” - Head Coach Joe Sacco