This weekend the Monsters pack their bags and head west for a two-game showdown against the Manitoba Moose. The two tilts are the Monsters only games at the MTS Centre in the regular season and the games also mark the final two contests of the regular season between the clubs.

To date, the Monsters are 1-1-0-0 against the Moose this season, dropping a 3-2 contest to their West Division rivals on October 16th at Quicken Loans Arena before tying the season series the next night with a 5-2 win at The Q.

Last season, the MTS Centre was an unkind place to the Monsters, as the team went 0-2-0-0 in Winnipeg, and was outscored 8-2 in the back-to-back losses on February 2nd and 3rd.

A few items of interest for this weekend’s games:

• The Monsters are currently on a seven-game road winless streak, and the team hasn’t won a game away from The Q since October 21st, when they beat the Houston Aeros 1-0 at the Toyota Center.
• Manitoba goalie Cory Schneider is tied for third in the AHL with 13 wins, is fifth in the league with 1,197 minutes played and is tied for second in the AHL with three shootout wins.
• Last season, Schneider was on the Planet USA All Star Team, led the league with a 2.04 GAA and a 0.928 save percentage, and was fourth in the AHL with an 85 percent success rate when facing shooters in the shootout.
• Moose rookie Sergei Shirokov leads AHL rookies with 11 goals and is third among league rookies with 21 points (11G, 10A) in 30 games played.
• Manitoba forward Mark McCutcheon previously spent the first two years of his pro career with the Colorado organization. In two seasons with the Monsters, McCutcheon recorded 26 points (8G, 18A) and 143 penalty minutes in 128 games. McCutcheon’s 143 penalty minutes rank fourth all-time in Monsters franchise history and the graduate of Cornell’s 128 games are third all-time in the history of the Lake Erie franchise.
• The Moose are tied with the Springfield Falcons for the league lead with four shootout wins.
• The Monsters, averaging 2.4 goals per game, are 26th in the AHL in goals per game while the Moose are 29th in the league in scoring, putting up 2.3 goals per game. Manitoba is also 27th in the league is shots per game, registering 26.4 shots each contest.
• Lake Erie forward T.J. Hensick is currently on a six-game point streak, putting up nine points (3G, 6A) over the duration of the past six games.

Both  games this weekend and every game this season will be broadcast on the Monsters flagship radio station, ESPN 850 WKNR.  Listen Live on ESPN 850 WKNR | Watch here via AHL Live

The Monsters return home for one more game before the Christmas holiday, as they host the Rochester Americans at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets are available and can be purchased by calling (216) 420-0000, by visiting LakeErieMonsters.com or by visiting any Northern Ohio Discount Drug Mart