Tonight the Lake Erie Monsters visit the Grand Rapids Griffins to begin a home-and-home series with their North-Division rivals. The Monsters will conclude a three-in-three set by hosting the Griffins for a rematch on Saturday. With an overall record of 30-23-3-5, the Monsters are currently tied for the division’s top spot.

Last Time We Met

When these two teams met on February 12th at Quicken Loans Arena, the Monsters skated to a 2-1 victory in a six-round shootout.

Jamie Tardif put Grand Rapids on the board just 5:48 into the contest, scoring off assists from Logan Pyett and Joakim Andersson.

Lake Erie answered at 12:01 of the middle frame, when Patrick Rissmiller scored off helpers from Ryan Stoa and Julian Talbot.

After a scoreless third period and five-minute overtime session, the two teams headed to a shootout. Mark Olver and Ilari Filppula scored in the first and second rounds, respectively, before rookie Mike Carman scored the decisive goal in the sixth round.

The Monsters went 0-for-5 on the power play, while the Griffins went 0-for-2 on the man advantage.

Jason Bacashihua denied 29 of 30 shots faced between regulation and overtime, before stopping five of six shootout candidates.

At the other end, Jordan Pearce went 19-for-20 and stopped four of Lake Erie’s six shootout attempts.

Griffins Update

Grand Rapids rides a four-game point streak (2-0-0-2) into this weekend’s action.

The Griffins have posted a 4-3-0-3 mark in their last 10 games and they are 12-13-1-5 on home ice.

Grand Rapids has been idle since Sunday, February 20th, when they wrapped up a three-in-three weekend with a 4-2 victory over Peoria.

Forward Ilari Filppula leads Grand Rapids’ offense with 44 points (18G, 26A) in 55 games this season.

Left wing Tomas Tatar has posted 41 points (15G, 26A) in 48 games, along with a team-leading plus-17 efficiency.

Power Trip

Lake Erie’s power play has gone 6-for-18 (33.3%) in its last five games.

Pacing Play

Ben Walter has recorded nine points (2G, 7A) in his last five games, while he leads the Monsters with 46 points (18G, 28A) in 58 games this season.

David van der Gulik has posted 11 points (5G, 6A) in his last 10 games.

Matt Ford has totaled six points (4G, 2A) in his last five games.

Greg Mauldin (1G, 2A) and Luke Walker (2G, 1A) have each collected three points in their last three outings.