Lake Erie played well in the first and second periods Friday, then sputtered in the third period and overtime.
The Oklahoma City Barons, an expansion team in the American Hockey League, have enjoyed their first few encounters with the Monsters.
The Barons made it three victories in three games with a 3-2 overtime win at The Q on Friday night. Right winger Colin McDonald scored at 3:01 of OT to quiet an enthusiastic crowd of 10,608.
The Monsters (10-9-2-2) played their seventh game in 10 days. An 8-in-11 ends this afternoon against Oklahoma City.
The Barons (13-6-1-1) won the first two of a six-game season series in mid-October at Oklahoma City. The scores were 4-3 and 3-0.
Lake Erie played well in the first and second periods Friday, then sputtered in the third period and overtime.
"Fatigue might have been an issue for us, but it was more about what Oklahoma City did," Monsters coach David Quinn said. "I think that's the best team we've played. They have an awful lot of firepower."
McDonald turned and unloaded on goalie John Grahame, who got a piece of the puck but was unable to stop it from sliding across the line. McDonald had tied the score late in the third.
"I think the kid just surprised Johnny a little bit," Quinn said of the game-winner. "Any time you throw the puck to the net, good things can happen."
Grahame started for the first time since Oct. 24 at Houston. He had been with the parent Colorado Avalanche until recently, then was unable to play because of illness.
Oklahoma City took a 1-0 lead with a short-handed goal at 6:47 of the first. Left winger Liam Reddox popped in a rebound past Grahame for his 11th goal in 21 games.
Late in the first period, the Monsters got a break when Oklahoma City bungled a two-on-none.
At 6:01 of the second period, Lake Erie tied it when right winger Luke Walker jammed the puck past the right leg of goalie Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers.
Lake Erie took a 2-1 lead at 14:38 of the second period, thanks to center Mark Olver's creativity. Positioned behind the goal line, Olver intentionally banked his shot off the backside of Drouin-Deslauriers.
At 13:23 of the third period, Oklahoma City thought it had tied the game after left winger Linus Omark drove in on Grahame. The officials disagreed.
Less than two minutes later, the Barons removed all doubt. McDonald barely got a stick on a pass from left winger Liam Reddox and tipped in the shot.
"In the third period, they turned it up a notch and we sat on our heels a bit," Quinn said.
Lake Erie went 5-for-5 in killing penalties. It entered 95-of-108 on the penalty kill; the 88 percent efficiency ranked fifth in the AHL. Its 94.2-percent efficiency at home ranked first.