Strong third sends Monsters past Amerks

LAKE ERIE 6, ROCHESTER 2
Philippe Dupuis notched his first hat trick of the season and Lake Erie scored four times in the third period en route to a 6-2 win over visiting Rochester on Tuesday at Quicken Loans Arena in the last AHL game prior to the Christmas break.

The Monsters, who collected a 3-2 win at Manitoba on Saturday, have now secured back-to-back victories for the first time since sweeping a two-game home set from Peoria on Oct. 30-31.

Dupuis put Lake Erie on the board with an unassisted goal at 9:47 of the first, but the Americans took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission on goals by Nick Tarnasky and Evgeny Dadonov.

Dupuis’s second tally of the night came on the power play 12:54 into the middle frame, knotting the contest up at 2-2.

Lake Erie captain Darren Haydar began the third-period onslaught with another power play strike 1:34 into the stanza. Ryan Stoa scored at both 8:51 and 16:14, the latter on the man advantage once again, and Dupuis buried the Amerks with an empty-netter at the 19:59 mark.

T.J. Hensick racked up three assists for the Monsters, and goaltender Tyler Weiman earned the victory with 23 saves between the pipes.

Rochester’s recent woes continued, as the Americans are now winless in four straight (0-3-1-0) and just 2-7-1-0 in their last 10 contests.

After a three-day holiday hiatus, the AHL schedule will resume with a 12-game slate on Saturday.