April 11, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL) Lake Erie Monsters A two-goal third period lead disappeared and the Lake Erie Monsters (29-32-1-10) fell 3-2 in a shootout to the Utica Comets (33-30-5-4) before a crowd of 12,386 fans at Quicken Loans Arena. With the shootout loss, the Monsters are officially eliminated from playoff contention. Michael Schumacher and Guillaume Desbiens scored for the Monsters, who are winless in their last five games. Of the eight games between the Monsters and Comets this season, the last seven were decided by 3-2 final scores. The Monsters host Rochester in the third game of their four-game homestand on Sunday at 5:00 PM.

Schumacher gave the Monsters a 1-0 lead at 6:05 of the first period when he tapped in a bouncing puck in front of the Utica net after a centering feed from Colin Smith. The goal was the 12th of the season for Schumacher, and was assisted by Smith and Stefan Elliott. The Monsters held their 1-0 lead until Guillaume Desbiens extended the Monsters lead to 2-0 at 7:22 of the third period, with assists to Elliott and Mitchell Heard.

Utica scored twice between the 12:09 and 18:02 marks of the third period to tie the game at 2-2. First Jeremy Welsh, then Cal O'Reilly scored for the Comets, who forced overtime.

In overtime, the Monsters had 56 seconds of total power play time, but were unable to convert. In overtime, the Comets held a 5-4 shot advantage.

Alex Friesen and Brandon DeFazio scored in the shootout for Utica, while the Monsters were 0-4 on shootout attempts; with the shootout edge, the Comets secured the 3-2 win.

Calvin Pickard stopped 34 of 36 shots and one of Utica's three shootout attempts in the shootout loss; he is 15-17-7 on the season. Joe Cannata is 10-12-1 after the shootout win for the Comets; he stopped 28 of 30 Monsters shots and all four shootout attempts.

The Monsters host Rochester Sunday at 5:00 PM.

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Monsters Fall to Comets in Shootout, 3-2