The Lake Erie Monsters split a two-game set at Quicken Loans Arena over the weekend, falling 7-4 to the Toronto Marlies before rallying for a 5-2 victory over the Houston Aeros. Lake Erie stands in fourth place in the North Division with a record of 13-11-2-4. The Monsters will be idle until Friday, December 17th, when they kick off a three-in-three weekend in Milwaukee.

Monsters Fall to Marlies, 7-4

Saturday’s meeting with Toronto marked the third of this regular season’s eight-games between the two teams.

The Monsters entered the game with a perfect 2-0-0-0 mark against the Marlies and with a 2-1 lead after the first period, a third win for Lake Erie seemed promising. In the middle frame, Toronto turned the tables with an offensive surge that included a hat trick from Marcel Mueller, enabling the Marlies to claim their first win at Quicken Loans Arena since November 20, 2009.

Julian Talbot provided two goals for Lake Erie, including a power play tally at 14:14 of the opening period.

Curtis Fraser and Luke Walker also scored for the Monsters, while Ben Walter recorded two assists.

Jason Bacashihua stopped 15 of 20 shots faced, before Trevor Cann entered the game in relief. Cann turned aside five of six shots faced.

The Marlies totaled seven goals in the game – the most of any Lake Erie opponent this season. The combined 11 goals between the two teams tied a season high for goals scored in a Lake Erie game.

Toronto stands in second place in the North Division, holding a 15-11-0-3 record.

Monsters Rally for 5-2 Win Over Houston

In Sunday’s showdown with Houston, the Monsters snapped a four-game losing streak by posting a 5-2 win.

The Aeros netted their first two shots of the game, giving them a 2-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest.

Before the opening period expired, Luke Walker scored his second goal in as many games.

In the middle frame, Lake Erie used goals from Stoa, Travis Gawryletz and Tom Zanoski to climb out of their deficit and build a comfortable 4-2 lead.

A hard-hitting third period was scoreless until Stoa buried an empty-netter at 18:31 for his second goal of the night, finalizing a 5-2 game.

Walter recorded two-assists for his fifth multi-point game of the season. 

Stoa’s two-goal performance marked his third multi-goal and fourth multi-point game of the season.

Bacashihua made 25 saves in his third consecutive start for Lake Erie.