Tonight the Monsters kick off a three-in-three weekend by playing in Milwaukee at 8 p.m. On Saturday Lake Erie will travel to Rockford for an 8:05 tilt with the IceHogs, before Sunday’s 4:05 matinee in Peoria. Broadcaster Ben Holden previews this weekend’s matchups, as the Monsters face three West-Division rivals.

Off to Suds City

Tonight the Monsters enter the Bradley Center for the first time this season, facing Milwaukee for the third of this regular season’s four meetings.

Last season, the Monsters split in their two games in Milwaukee, posting a 3-2 shootout win on March 5th and a 5-1 loss on March 10th.

The Ads paid a visit to Quicken Loans Arena for a two-game set on November 12th and 13th.

In the first of those two games, Milwaukee claimed a 4-0 win in front of 7,311 at The Q.

In a rematch the next day, the game was deadlocked at two goals apiece in the third period, before Milwaukee scored at 18:53 for the win.

Former Monster Chris Mueller recorded five points (4G, 1A) between the two games. He recorded the game-winner in both contests, scoring shorthanded breakaway tallies that looked like mirror images of each other.

Lake Erie enters tonight’s game with a 13-11-2-4 overall record. The Monsters are fourth in the North Division and 5-8-2-2 against West-Division teams.

Milwaukee is placed fourth in the West Division, holding an overall record of 15-8-2-4. The Ads are 8-3-0-0 when playing North-Division rivals.

Hog Tied

Lake Erie opened its regular season series with the IceHogs on November 24th, claiming a 4-2 win at the Rockford MetroCentre.

The Monsters built a 3-0 lead before the midpoint of that game, thanks to a power play tally by Patrick Rissmiller and a pair of even-strength goals by Ryan Stoa. Julian Talbot notched two assists in that game and Mike Carman added a shorthander.

The IceHogs enter this weekend’s action on a three-game point streak (0-1-1-1) and they are 5-5-0-0 against North Division teams.

Rockford will host the Chicago Wolves at 7:05 p.m. tonight. The Monsters and IceHogs will meet for a total of eight games this season.

Round two with the Rivermen

On Sunday the Monsters will play their first game of the season in Peoria.

Lake Erie hosted the Rivermen on December 4th, falling 3-2 in a shootout.

The Monsters had a 2-1 lead in that game, until the Rivermen scored with 14 seconds remaining in regulation. Former Monster T.J. Hensick set up Derek Nesbitt with a power play goal, forcing a scoreless overtime and an eventual shootout.

In the shootout, Hensick scored to lifted Peoria to a 3-2 win by scoring in the third round. Nathan Oysterick also scored for the Rivermen in the shootout, while Patrick Rissmiller was Lake Erie’s only shootout candidate to score.

After spending parts of the last three seasons with the Monsters, Hensick ranks first all time in Lake Erie scoring (39), assists (92) and points (131).

The Monsters hold an all-time record of 5-8-0-2 against the Rivermen.