Last Thursday, December 29, 2010, the Monsters claimed a 4-1 win over the Amerks at Quicken Loans Arena.

Patrick Rissmiller opened the scoring midway through the first period, netting a goal off assists from Ryan Stoa and Kevin Montgomery.

Late in the middle frame, the Monsters pushed their lead to 2-0 when Justin Mercier was set up by Julian Talbot and Luke Walker.

In the third, David Van der Gulik scored a power play goal off helpers from Montgomery and Rissmiller.

The Amerks notched a power play tally of their own when Michal Repik lit the lamp off a pass from Chris Taylor.

Matt Ford finalized a 4-1 game off assists from Stoa and Ben Walter.

Jason Bacashihua went 24-for-25 in net for the Monsters, while Jacob Markstrom stopped 22 of 26 shots faced.

Since playing the Monsters at The Q last week, the Amerks have played three games. They rebounded from a 4-1 loss to Lake Erie by claiming a 2-1 win in Toronto the next night. On New Year’s Day they dropped a 4-1 decision to Syracuse, before falling 3-2 in a shootout to Adirondack January 2nd.

In their loss to the Phantoms, Jeff LoVecchio and Kenndal McArdle scored for the Amerks, while Jacob Markstrom made 29 saves in the game and two more in the shootout.

Q Tips

Lake Erie carries a season-high three-game home winning streak into Tuesday’s game against Rochester.

The Monsters have outscored their opponent by a combined 12-3 count in their last three home games (Dec. 12 vs. Houston, 5-2; Dec. 29 vs. Rochester, 4-1; Jan. 1 vs. Hamilton, 3-0).

Overall, Lake Erie is 10-4-2-2 in friendly confines.

In the North Division…

The Monsters conclude a five-game stretch of North-Division games on Tuesday. The gauntlet started with a 5-3 loss in Grand Rapids December 26th, followed by a win over the Amerks and a split with Hamilton.

All three of Lake Erie’s shutouts this season have come on home ice against division rivals (Oct. 31 vs. Manitoba, 2-0; Nov. 17 vs. Grand Rapids, 3-0; Jan. 1 vs. Hamilton, 3-0).

The Monsters are 8-5-0-2 in North Division play.

Special Teams

The Monsters were perfect in killing off all seven of Hamilton’s power play opportunities on Saturday.

Lake Erie has notched five power play goals in its last 16 chances with the man advantage (31.3%).

Patrick Rissmiller leads Lake Erie’s power play with nine points (3G, 6A), while Kevin Montgomery has had a hand in eight (2G, 6A) of Lake Erie’s power play goals this season.