Mark Arcobello was the latest absentee, new signing Tylor Spink was playing his fourth game in as many days, and Taylor Doherty dressed as a seventh defensemen for the Marlies.
Toronto may have won many games with pure skill and goal-scoring ability this season, but this victory was earned by mental toughness and each player giving the last ounce of their remaining energy this weekend.
Lake Erie have proved a formidable outfit in the Western Conference, no more so than on home ice, where the Monsters had won 21 of 32 games before this matinee encounter.