After finishing their weekend on the road in Toronto, the Lake Erie Monsters return home to play their 50th game of the regular season Wednesday in a crucial North Division matchup against the Rochester Americans. If the Monsters can pull out a win Wednesday, they would leap over the Abbotsford Heat for fourth place in the division, temporarily holding the North’s final playoff spot.

Although a formidable foe – the Americans are in second place in the North with 29 wins and 60 points – the Monsters have fared well against Rochester this season, racking up a 4-1-0-0 mark through the first five games of an eight-game regular season series between the clubs. The Monsters hold an all-time mark of 10-5-1-1 against Rochester since their inception into the AHL in the 2007-08 season.

If the Monsters are to be victorious in their midweek contest, a priority will be shutting down the Rochester offense. Averaging more than three goals per game, the Americans have the AHL’s fifth-best offense and are led by forward Jamie Johnson, who paces the team and is seventh in the league with 49 points (19G, 30A) through 48 games. Johnson will be the main focus for the Monsters, as the Rochester center is currently on a nine-game point streak.

Aside from receiving scoring from their forwards, the Americans have been receiving offense from their backline this year and are led by defenseman Clay Wilson. Wilson’s 16 power play assists lead the league and the native of Sturgeon Lake, Minnesota, is fifth among AHL defensemen with 33 points (7G, 26A).

An area of exploitation for Lake Erie will be Rochester’s power play. Although the Americans are the AHL’s tenth-best team on the man advantage, Rochester has surrendered a league-high 11 shorthanded goals so far this season.

After Wednesday’s game against Rochester, the Monsters return to the ice Friday for a set of home games against the Rockford IceHogs this weekend. Friday’s contest against Rockford is slated for 7:30 p.m. while the puck will drop at 1:00 p.m. Saturday.

Wednesday's game 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