Monsters sweep away IceHogs

The Lake Erie Monsters became the first team to advance to the second round of the 2016 Calder Cup Playoffs, finishing off a three-game sweep of Rockford with a 5-3 win at Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday night.

The Monsters will face the winner of the other Central Division semifinal between Milwaukee and Grand Rapids.

Ryan Craig and Daniel Zaar had a goal and an assist each for Lake Erie in Game 3, Josh Anderson scored his fourth goal of the series and Zach Werenski and Oliver Bjorkstrand both scored as well. T.J. Tynan and Sonny Milano each tallied two assists and Joonas Korpisalo (3-0) made 21 saves.

Jonathan Carlsson, Tyler Motte and Mark McNeill scored for the IceHogs, whose season ended in a first-round sweep for the third time in their last four playoff appearances (2009, 2010).

Central Division Semifinals – Series “F” (best-of-5)
C2-Lake Erie Monsters vs. C3-Rockford IceHogs
Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 20 – Lake Erie 5, ROCKFORD 2
Game 2 – Thu., Apr. 21 – Lake Erie 5, ROCKFORD 1
Game 3 – Sat., Apr. 23 – LAKE ERIE 5, Rockford 3