Tonight the Monsters will face the Abbotsford Heat for the first of four regular season meetings. Last season Lake Erie posted a 3-3-0-2 record against Abbotsford, while six of the eight games were decided by a single goal. The Monsters enter the tonight's contest with a record of 6-1-0-1 in North Division play, while the Heat are 4-4-0-1 within the division.

About the Heat

Four of Abbotsford’s top five scorers are rookies. Right wing Greg Nemisz has 13 points (6G, 7A) and center Lance Bouma has 11 (7G, 4A), while forwards Carter Bancks and Gaelan Patterson both have three goals and eight assists.

Abbotsford goaltender Leland Irving holds an 11-7-1 record. His 2.23 goals against average, .917 save percentage and 527 saves place him 12th among AHL goaltenders.

With an overall record of 12-11-0-3, the Heat enter tonight’s game as the North Division’s fifth-place team, as they are two points and two places behind the third-placed Monsters.

 By the Numbers

Abbotsford is 6-5-0-1 on home ice this season, while Lake Erie is 5-6-0-1 on the road.

The Heat are riding a 0-3-0-1 streak, while the Monsters have put together a 3-0-1-1 run to go 6-2-1-1 in their last 10 games.

In this Division...

Abbotsford is 4-4-0-1 in North Division play, while Lake Erie’s 6-1-0-1 record inside the division gives them the fewest losses of the seven-team group.

 Lake Erie's only regulation loss within the North Division came against Manitoba, as the Monsters fell 6-3 to the Moose back on October 29th. Lake Erie battled back two days later, taking a 2-0 win over Manitoba in a rematch.

Current Streak

By forcing a shootout in Saturday's game against Peoria, the Monsters obtained a point to extend their streak to five games (3-0-1-1) for the second time this season (Oct. 30-Nov. 10). Tonight, the Monsters look to push their point streak to a season high six games.

(Riss)miller Time

After setting a franchise record for goals in a game (4) and tying a franchise mark for points in a game (5) during Friday's 6-3 win over Chicago, Patrick Rissmiller was named the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week.

Rissmiller is the third player in franchise history to receive the award (Jason Bacashihua, 2008-09; Darren Haydar, 2009-10).