Monsters top Rocket in 2-1 overtime thriller

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Owen Sillinger brought the home crowd to their feet when he buried the puck in overtime to give the Monsters a 2-1 victory over the Laval Rocket.

The Monsters got to work quick on Saturday night, Joseph LaBate converted on an early power play at 1:50 off feeds from Samuel Knazko and Daemon Hunt giving the Monsters a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

The Rocket answered with a goal on the man advantage from Owen Beck at 16:17 leaving the teams tied 1-1 after 40 minutes of play.

Neither team scored in the third, and in overtime, Owen Sillinger put the game-winning goal away at 1:37 with helpers from Stanislav Svozil and Cole Clayton.

With the win, the Monsters are now 21-11-1-3 and in second place in the AHL’s North Division standings.

Cleveland’s Daniil Tarasov had 34 saves in the win while Laval’s Connor Hughes stopped 22 shots.

The Monsters travel to Michigan to face the Grand Rapids Griffins at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, January 17, at Van Andel Arena.