Tonight, Lake Erie faces Rockford for the sixth and final time of this regular season.

When these two teams met at Quicken Loans Arena on March 30th, the Monsters were hogtied by a 3-2 count, snapping a franchise-high eight-game winning streak.

In that game, Lake Erie jumped out to a 1-0 lead with Julian Talbot’s goal at 5:59 of the opening period. Rockford evened the score when Garnet Exelby scored at 16:23 of the period, but Matt Ford put Lake Erie up 2-1 when he lit the lamp just 1:33 into the middle frame.

Jeff Taffe tied the game at 2-2 when he scored a power play tally at 17:03 of the second, before Brian Connelly notched the eventual game winner at 4:57 of the third.

Jason Bacashihua stopped 34 of 37 shots faced in the loss, while Hannu Toivonen went 23-for-25 in the win.

Bacon Bits

The IceHogs enter tonight’s game with a 35-33-4-5 record, placing them eighth in a competitive West Division.

Rockford has posted an 8-2-0-0 mark in its last 10 games.

The IceHogs ride a two-game winning streak into tonight’s series finale with the Monsters.

The ‘Hogs are 17-17-2-2 on home ice this season.

Rockford is led by center Jeff Taffe, who has totaled 61 points (28G, 33A) in 71 games this season.

Road Warriors

The Monsters ride a franchise-high eight-game road winning streak into tonight’s contest.

Lake Erie also begins its ninth and final 3-in-3 weekend of the regular season by visiting Rockford tonight.

The Monsters will return to Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday to host the Abbotsford Heat, before traveling to Rochester on Sunday to play the final game of their regular season.

All In Good Timing

Defenseman Julien Brouillette provided Lake Erie with the game-winning goal on Wednesday night, when he unleashed a blast from the left point at 14:00 of the second period. Brouillette has scored two goals this season, both of which have been game-winning tallies (March 19th at Milwaukee, 3-2 W). Brouillette rides a four-game point streak (1G, 3A) into tonight’s contest.

Power Trip

Lake Erie’s trio of power play goals against Toronto on Wednesday night tied a season high.

In their last two games, the Monsters have gone 4-for-12 (33.3%) on the man advantage.

Broadcaster Ben Holden previews this evening’s matchup.