When these two teams met on December 26th, the Monsters suffered a 5-3 setback at Andel Arena.

The Griffins struck first with a power play goal by Travis Ehrhardt at 13:24 of the first period, before Mark Olver tied the game just 1:30 later.

After a scoreless middle frame, the two teams combined for a six-goal third period. Tomas Tatar scored at 6:18 before Logan Pyett scored a power play goal three minutes later.

David van der Gulik cut Lake Erie’s two-goal deficit in half by making the score 3-2 at 10:38.

Joakim Andersson put the Griffins up 4-2 at the 10:59 mark, before Ilari Filppula scored an empty-net tally at 18:19.

Ryan Stoa’s power play goal at 19:25 finalized a 5-3 score sheet.

Lake Erie’s power play went 1-for-5, while the Griffins went 2-for-5 on the man advantage.

John Grahame stopped 11 of 15 shots faced, while Joey MacDonald kicked aside 31 of 34 shots faced.

Griffins Update

The Griffins are 23-23-1-5 this season and 5-4-0-1 in their last 10 games. Their 52 points place them sixth in the North Division.

After falling 2-1 to Hamilton on February 4th and 6-2 to Milwaukee on February 5th, the Griffins rebounded with a 7-5 win in Chicago on Wednesday, February 9th. In that victory over the Wolves, five Griffins recorded multi-point games: Francis Pare (1G, 3A), Jamie Johnson (1G, 1A), Ilari Filppula (2G) and Jamie Tardif (1G, 1A).

Home Sweet Home

The Monsters continue a stretch of 12 of 13 home games with Saturday's outing.

Last weekend the Monsters played their only home three-in-three set of the season, posting a 1-1-0-1 record to claim three of a possible six points.

On Friday, February 4th, Lake Erie fell 4-3 to San Antonio, before a 5-4 shootout loss to the Rampage the next afternoon.

The Monsters finished the weekend with a 3-2 win over the Abbotsford Heat on Sunday, February 6th.

Pacing Play

Rookie center Mark Olver’s current six-game point streak (4G, 4A) ties a season high among Lake Erie players (Ben Walter, Oct. 22-Nov. 5). Eight points in six games by Olver is the most prolific stretch of any Monster this season.

Center Ben Walter has dished out three helpers in his last two games.

Defenseman Travis Gawryletz rides a three-game assist streak (3A) into Saturday's contest.

Forward Patrick Rissmiller has recorded four points (2G, 2A) in his last four games.

Broadcaster Ben Holden previews this weekend's action: