After their third loss in as many tries at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids this season, the Lake Erie Monsters (27-25-2-2) will try to recapture their stride from last Saturday's 3-1 win over Rochester as they'll meet the Americans in another Saturday night tilt; only this time, the game will be at Rochester's Blue Cross Arena, where the Monsters are 0-2-0-0 this season.

Last night, the Monsters allowed the game’s first goal, but showed life when they responded to tie the game at 1-1 on a Greg Mauldin rebound goal later in the first period. Grand Rapids tacked on five unanswered goals and marched on to a 6-1 victory over the Monsters. The Monsters finished the season series with a 2-4-0-0 record against the Griffins.

Last week against Rochester, Stefan Elliott was the Monsters key offensive performer. The rookie defenseman had two goals in Saturday night’s 3-1 win over the Americans, and was promoted to the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche shortly thereafter.

Tonight, the Monsters will need an overall team effort to pick up the slack and rebound from last night’s tough loss. Patrick Rissmiller remains among the most prolific Monsters offensively as of late. The veteran forward has five goals over his last eight games. Prior to last night’s game, defenseman Cameron Gaunce and forward Brad Malone each had three-game assist streaks intact. Look for bounce-back efforts across the board from the Monsters, who will be concluding their fourth of six three-games-in-three-nights stretches this season.

As far as the “three-in-three” concept is concerned, Friday night’s loss in Grand Rapids drops the Monsters to 1-3-0-0 in the second game of three-in-three. The Monsters are 1-2-0-0 in the third game of three-in-three this season, and are 3-6-2-0 overall in games that are involved in three-games-in-three nights. All told, this weekend’s trip will log the Monsters about 20 hours on a bus as well.

Derek Whitmore is the leading scorer for the Rochester Americans, and in last Friday night’s Rochester win over the Monsters, Whitmore scored twice to lead the way. He’ll be a focal point for the Monsters defense.

Tonight’s action from Rochester can be heard live on AM 1220 WHKW. The puck drops at 7:35 PM.