CLEVELAND — Nathan Smith scored the game-winning goal off a cross-crease feed from Chris Durno with just 57 seconds to play Sunday as the Lake Erie Monsters downed Toronto 4-3 at The Q.
The Monsters improved to
2-0 on the season, winning both games by the identical score.
Saturday, however, Tyler Weiman was on the bench while Jason Bacashihua piled up 33 saves in a 4-3 overtime win over Grand Rapids. Sunday, it was Weiman’s turn, as he stepped into the lineup and promptly made 40 saves as Lake Erie pulled into an early three-way tie atop the American Hockey League’s North Division.
“There were a number of saves (Weiman) made that were amazing,” Smith said. “They had a lot of shots that were in good position, but Weiman was just quick on them. He’s the one that won us the game.”
Jesse Boulerice started the scoring for the Monsters by netting a rebound of a Chris Stewart shot just five minutes into the game. After Toronto tied the score, Brian Willsie put the Monsters back on top on a power play with four minutes to go in the first period.
T.J. Hensik put the Monsters up 3-1 in the second.
The Marlies responded though, scoring twice in the final period to tie the game before Smith’s game-winner.
“We talked about not playing into their hands, not making the game hard on ourselves and we did that by making bad decisions and letting them come back into the game because of our puck decisions,” Monsters coach Joe Sacco said. “But we were resilient in our efforts tonight and we found a way to come up with a huge goal in the end.”
The Monsters are back in action Friday at 7:30 when they host the Norfolk Admirals. 

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