CLEVELAND – Patrick Rissmiller’s second-period goal stood as the winner as the Lake Erie Monsters topped the Hamilton Bulldogs 3-1 on Saturday in American Hockey League play.
Rissmiller scored 6:54 into the period to give Lake Erie (20-22-3) a 2-1 lead. Luke Walker added an empty-net goal with 17 seconds left to play, while Mike Carman opened scoring in the first.
Brian Willsie was the lone scorer for Hamilton (19-19-5).
Gerald Coleman made 28 saves to earn the win for the Monsters, while Nathan Lawson stopped 23 of 25 shots for the Bulldogs.
Neither team scored on the power play. Lake Erie was 0-for-4, while Hamilton went 0-for-3.
The Monsters took a 1-0 lead when Joel Chouinard’s shot deflected off Carman and past the Bulldogs’ Lawson with less than three minutes left to play in the first.
Hamilton’s Willsie tied the game 1-1 at 5:03 of the second on a 2-on-1 play, with Louis Leblanc recording an assist on the goal.
Lake Erie would take back the lead when Rissmiller’s shot trickled between Lawson’s pads less than two minutes later.
The Bulldogs outshot the Monsters 29-26 in the game.
