MATCHUP

Riding a three-game win streak, the Lake Erie Monsters (7-3-0-0) will hit the ice tonight against the Rockford IceHogs (4-4-0-1) as the Monsters continue their mini-tour of the Midwest Division.  It'll be the third of three games in three nights in three cities for the Monsters, who have now won three straight games for the second time this season. They'll look for their first four-game win streak of the campaign against a Rockford team they were 4-0-0-0 against last season. After last night's 6-3 loss to Chicago, the IceHogs have won four of five games, and are 4-4-0-1 on the season.

LAST TIME OUT

The Monsters topped Milwaukee on the road 2-1 last night despite being out-shot by a 43-19 margin.  Calvin Pickard turned aside a career-high 42 pucks; a mark that's also a season-high for a Monsters goalie.

Bryan Lerg scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season; his sixth goal in as many games. Luke Walker's shorthanded goal- and the eventual game-winner for the Monsters- was the club's first shorthanded goal of the season.

PLAYER TO WATCH: MONSTERS

Lerg remains the catalyst for the Monsters with six goals over his last six games, and two in two games since being named the Monsters captain on Tuesday.  His goals in the last two games opened the scoring for the Monsters, and were both power play goals.  He leads the Monsters with four power play goals this season.

PLAYER TO WATCH: ICEHOGS

Brandon Pirri paces Rockford with eight points in nine games, and offensively, poses the greatest individual threat to the Monsters.
Pirri has one goal in four of Rockford's last five games, and they're 4-1-0-0 over the last five games.  Rockford began the season earning just one point over their first four games, and Pirri was held out of the goal column over that stretch.  When Pirri finds the back of the net, it's helping lead the IceHogs to wins in this early portion of the season.

WHERE TO LISTEN

Catch all of the action, live from Rockford, on AM 1220 WHKW beginning at 8:00 PM Eastern with Doug Plagens on the play-by-play.