Stars extend Cleveland’s losing streak to three games

The Monsters’ promo crew during a break in the second period Nov. 26 played up the fact Dec. 30 will be “Marvel Super Hero Night” at The Q.

A line of Spiderman, Hulk and Captain America might have been the only thing that could have saved the real Monsters in their rematch with the Texas Stars, because for the second straight game they were sloppy with their passing, inconsistent with their special teams and generally abysmal in a 3-2 defeat before a disappointed crowd of 9,136.

Coach John Madden, never one to sugarcoat things, was not pleased.

“We’re not clicking right now,” he said. “It’s on us. We have to come better prepared and play a full 60 minutes. We play in spurts right now.

“It’s too easy on the other team when you’re not playing a full 60 minutes. Our puck decisions were not there. Our execution was not there.”

The Monsters (7-6-2-2) have lost three straight. The slide started with a shootout loss to the Admirals in Milwaukee.

Texas scored on a powerplay goal 2:40 into the game when Roope Hintz buried the puck into an open left side of the net past Joonas Korpisalo, who was sent down from the Blue Jackets just so he could get a start. The Blue Jackets did the same thing Nov. 18, and that time Korpisalo was stellar in a 3-1 victory over Milwaukee.

Korpisalo got little support Nov. 26 other than the Monsters stopping a 5-on-3 power play in the first period.

The Monsters tied the score 1-1 when Nick Moutrey redirected a shot from the point by Carter Camper at 3:41 of the first period.

The backbreaker for the Monsters was a shorthanded goal by the Stars at 4:52 of the second period. Texas made it 3-1 when Samuel Laberge jumped on a shot that caromed off the boards behind Korpisalo. By the time Korpisalo tracked the puck and turned his head back toward the front of the net, he was looking behind him again to scoop the puck out of the cage.

The Monsters had only 12 shots on goal in the first two periods. They had three in the first two minutes of the third period and then went dormant again until the final five minutes.