Tonight, the Monsters and Bulldogs conclude their eight-game regular season series.

Lake Erie holds a three-game lead (5-2-0-0) against Hamilton this season, including a perfect 3-0-0-0 mark against the Bulldogs at Quicken Loans Arena.

The most recent meeting between these two teams took place on March 11th, when the Monsters skated to a 4-2 victory at Copps Coliseum.

In that game, Lake Erie built a two-goal lead in the first period. Cameron Gaunce scored just 3:18 into the contest, before setting up Julian Talbot with a power play goal at 13:07.

The Bulldogs cut their deficit in half before the period expired, as J.T. Wyman scored a shorthanded tally at the 16:09 mark.

A goal by David van der Gulik at 16:05 of the middle frame and a power play marker by Greg Mauldin at 2:01 of the third put Lake Erie up 4-1.

With just 34 second remaining in regulation, Kyle Klubertanz finalized a 4-2 score sheet.

John Grahame stopped 19 of 21 in goal for the Monsters, while Drew MacIntyre went 25-for-29 at the other end.

About the ‘Dogs

With a record of 39-26-2-7 and 87 points, the Bulldogs stand in third place in the North Division. Hamilton trails Lake Erie (40-26-3-5, 88 pts) by just one point, while both teams have six regular season games remaining.

The ‘Dogs ride a five-game point streak (3-0-1-1) into tonight’s contest, while they are 5-3-1-1 in their last 10 games.

Hamilton recently posted a pair of wins over division rival Abbotsford, as they beat the Heat 4-1 on Wednesday, March 30th and 3-1 on Tuesday, March 29th.

The Bulldogs are 18-11-1-5 on the road this season.

Hamilton is backstopped by goaltender Curtis Sanford, who was selected for the 2010-11 AHL Second All-Star Team this week.

Still Rollin’

Despite Wednesday’s 3-2 setback to Rockford, the Monsters are 22-10-2-3 on home ice this season.

Lake Erie has won 24 of their last 32 games (24-7-0-1) and 16 of their last 20 (16-4-0-0) outings.

The Monsters closed out the Month of March with just two losses, while both came at the hands of the IceHogs (March 5th, 3-2; March 30th, 3-2).

Pacing Play

On Wednesday night, center Ben Walter was held off the score sheet for just the third time in his last 20 games. Over the course of his last 18 outings, Walter has put together two eight-game point streaks (Feb. 5-March 4; March 11-March 26), including a franchise-high eight-game assist streak (March 11-March 26) which snapped on Wednesday.

David van der Gulik has totaled 18 points (5G, 13A) in his last 13 games.

Greg Mauldin has totaled four points (2G, 2A) in his last three games.

Julian Talbot has amassed three points (1G, 2A) in his last two outings.

Next Up

Lake Erie will continue North Division play tomorrow when they travel to Toronto for a 5:00 p.m. faceoff against the Marlies.

The Monsters are 5-1-0-0 against Toronto this season.

Broadcaster Ben Holden previews this evening's matchup.