ROCKFORD, IL –
The Monsters grabbed a 1-0 lead at 8:32 of the first period on Wednesday when Sonny Milano sent a ricocheting puck off the post, and a Rockford defenseman, for his first of the playoffs at even strength on feeds from Ryan Craig and Zach Werenski. After successfully killing a penalty late in the frame, the Monsters pushed their lead to 2-0 on a one-time crank from Werenski at 19:41, thanks to a visionary setup from Alex Broadhurst and Michael Chaput.
Lake Erie collected the middle frame’s lone score at 11:11 when Dean Kukan scalded home a left-circle slapper on the power-play to make it 3-0 Monsters with Oliver Bjorkstrand and Broadhurst posting assists on the play.